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THE PICTORIAL SKETCH-BOOK 

OF PENNSYLVANIA. 



WILLIAM BROMWELL, 

SOLE AGENT, 

No« 195 Chestnut Street) opposite the State House, 



|S[jilaiiFl|i[iiii nnii JUiuMiig Jlailroal 

PASSENGEE TKAIN TIME TABLE.^ 

Leave Philadelphia from the Depot, Broad and Callowhill Street, at 

7i A. M., and 3^ P. M. Daily Except Sundays, when an 

Excursion Train leaves at 7J A. M. Returning 

leaves Pottsville at 4 P. M. 





UP TRAINS 


1 


DOWN TRAINS. 


STATIONS. 


Exp'8 
Morn. 


Way 

Aft'n. 


STATIONS. 


Wag 
Morn. 


B.vp'n 
Aft'n. 


Leaves Phil.\delphia, 


7.80 


3.30 


) Leaves Pottsville, 


7.30 


3.. 30 


Passes Schl. Viaduct, 


— 


3.41 


Passes Mt. Carbon, 


7.37 


3.37 


(( 


Manayunk, 


— 


3.50 


" ScHL. Haven, 


7.46 


3.45 


•' 


Conshohocken, 


— 


4.05 


" Orwigsburg, 


7.57 




it 


Norristown, 


— 


4.12 


1 " Auburn, 


8.0.-) 




<b 


Port Kennedy, 


— 


4.21 


" Port Clinton, 


8.20 


4.10 


((. 


Valley Forge, 


— 


4.26 


" Hamburg, 


8.30 




4( 


Phcenixville, 


8.31 


4.41 


♦' Mohrsville, 


8.48 





ti 


Royer's Ford, 


— 


4.51 


" Althouse's, 


8.53 




ii 


Limerick, 


— 


4.56 


" Reading, 


9.10 


4.51 


(( 


POTTSTOWN, 


8.58 


5.13 


" Birdsboro, 


9.32 




it 


Douglassville, 


— 


5.22 


" Douglassville, 


9.41 




(( 


Birdsboro, 


— 


5.33 


" Pottstown, 


9.51 


5.30 


<< 


Reading, 


9.34 


6.00 


" Limerick, 


10.04 




(C 


Althouse's, 


— 


6.25 


" Royer's Ford, 


10.08 





it 


Mohrsville, 


— 


6.30 


" Phcenixville, 


10.18 


5.56 


(C 


Hamburg, 


— 


6.48 


" Valley Forge, 


10.29 






Port Clinton, 


10.17 


6.58 


•' Port Kennedy, 


10.34 





>l 


Auburn, 


— 


7.11 


" Norristown, 


10.44 




(( 


Orwigsburg, 


— 


7.19 


" Conshohocken, 


10.51 





ii 


ScHL. Haven, 


10.43 


7.27 


" Manayunk, 


11.06 




(t 


Mount Carbon, 


10.52 


736 


" Schl. Viaduct. 


11.18 




Arrives at Pottsville, 


11.00 


7.45 


Arrives at Philad'a. 


11.30 


7.00 



STAGE CONNEXIONS. 

At Phcenixville, with Express and Way Trains, for Yellow Sprin"-,«, &c 

At Pottstown, with Express Trains, for JJoyerstown, Allentown, ix. 

At Readi.vo, with Express Trains, for Lebanon, Harrisburg, Bemyille, Jonestown, ic. 

At PoTTsvuiE, with Express Trains, for Northumberland, Sunbury, DanTillc, Cata- 

RAILROAD CONNEXIONS. 

At Port Clinton, to Tamaqua, thence by Stage to Mauch Chunk, Wilkcsbarre, Lacka- 
wanna, Hazelton, &c. ' ' 
At ScHin-LKiLL IlAVEN, to Minersvillc, Trcmont, &c. 
At Mount Cabbon, to Tuscarora, Middleport, &c. 



I 



|5^ilaDd|i!]iii anh :3RmMng Haitonl 



P2VSSENGER FARES AND DISTANCES. 





UP TRAINS 


1 




1 


DOWN TRAINS. 




Dist. 


From Philad'a to 


FARES. 
iV0.1|^0.2 


Jiist. 


From Pottsville to 


fares. 

No.\\No.2 


H 


Scbl. Viaduct, 


.15 


.10 


1 


Mount Carbon, 


.05 


.05 


7 


Manayunk, 


.20 


.15 


4 


ScHL. Haven, 


.15 


.10 


13^ 


Consbohocken, 


.30 


.25 


7 


Orwigsburg, 


.20 


.15 


17 


Norristown, 


.40 


.30 


10 


Auburn, 


.30 


.25 


21J 


Port Kennedy, 


.65 


.50 


15 


Port Clinton, 


.45 


.35 


23i 


Valley Forge, 


.70 


.60 


18 


Hamburg, 


.55 


.45 


27^- 


PlICENIXVILLE, 


.80 


.65 


25 


Mobrsville, 


.75 


.60 


32 


Royer's Ford, 


.95 


.80 


27 


Altbouse's, 


.80 


.65 


84 


Limerick, 


1.05 


.85 


35 


Reading, 


1.05 


.85 


40 


POTTSTOWN, 


1.20 


1.00 


44 


Birdsboro, 


1.30 


1.10 


44J 


Douglassville, 


1.35 


1.10 


m 


Douglassville, 


1.45 


1.20 


49" 


Birdsboro, 


1.50 


1.25 


53^ 


Pottstown, 


1.60 


1.30 


58 


Reading, 


1.75 


1.45 


59 


Limerick, 


1.75 


1.45 


66 


Altbouse's, 


2.00 


1.65 


61 


Royer's Ford, 


1.80 


1.50 


68 


Mobrsville, 


2.05 


1.70 


65J 


Phojnixville, 


1.95 


1.65 


75 


Hamburg, 


2.25 


1.90 


69J 


Valley Forge, 


2.05 


1.70 


78 


Port Clinton, 


2.35 


1.95 


71^ 


Port Kennedy, 


2.10 


1.75 


88 


Auburn, 


2.50 


2.10 


76 


Norristown, 


2.35 


1.95 


86 


Orwigsburg, 


2.60 


2.15 


79^ 


Conshobocken, 


2.45 


2.00 


89 


ScHL. Haven, 


2.70 


2.20 


86- 


Manayunk, 


2.55 


2.15 


92 


Mount Carbon, 


2.75 


2.25 


89J 


Schl. Viaduct. 


2.65 


2.20 


93 


POTTSVILLE, 


2.75 


2.25 1 


93 


Philadelphia. 


2.75 


2.25 



Way Trains stop at all the points stated : Express Trains only at 
those Stations in Small Capitals, and positivelrj at no others. 

All Passengers -will purchase their tickets before entering the cars. 

Fifty pounds of Baggage are allowed each Passenger. 

Passengers are strictly forbidden to stand outside, on the Platforms, 
while the cars are in motion. 

Passengers waiting for Way Trains, at Way Points where there is 
no Railroad Agent, will signal the approaching Trains, otherwise 
they will not stop. 




a 
c 
c 



o 



THE 



PICTORIAL SKETCH-BOOK 



OF 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



OR 



ITS SCENERY, INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS, RESOURCES, 
AND AGRICULTURE, 



POPULARLY DESCRIBED, 



BY 

E LI B OWEN. 

AUTHOR OF THE " U. S. POST-OFFICE GUIDE," AND LATE OF THE GENERAL 

POST-OFFICE. 



Sllustrattll Jnitf) obtr 9tlx)o J^unllrtlJ ESitflrabfn^s, 

AND A COLORED MAP. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

WILLIS P. HAZARD 

IVS CHESTNUT STREET. 
1852. 



^^;^;;%'^^-^ 



i 



t'ff 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1852, by 

WILLIS P. HAZARD, 

in the Clerk's office of the District Court of the United States, for the 

Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



Stereotyped bySLOTE & Moonet, Philadelphia. 
C. Sherman, Printer. 




MRS IokE ^RoOr 



TO JOHN TUCKER, Esq., 



PRESIDENT OP THE READING RAILROAD, THE SCHUYLKILL VALLEY 
RAILROAD, ETC. ETC., 

THESE SKETCHES OF THE ANTHRACITE COAL REGIONS, AND 

THEIR PRINCIPAL OUTLET, 
AKE INSCRIBED 
AS A SLIGHT INTIMATION OF THE RESPECT WHICH IS 

ENTERTAINED FOR HIM BY THE THOUSANDS DIRECTLY AND INDIRECTLY CONNECTED 

WITH THE COAL TRADE. 



A WORD BEFORE WE GO. 



In all parts of Europe the traveller is supplied Tivitli Guide-books, de- 
tailing, for his special information and satisfaction, the leading features 
of all objects of interest on his route. There is not an antiquated castle, 
a battle-field, a mountain, or a river, but has its peculiar points revealed 
for the entertainment of the stranger, as he rambles along from place to 
place. No doubt this materially adds to the interest and subsequent value 
of travel ; and probably constitutes one of the paramount attractions of 
a tour in Europe, since all its incidents are thus permanently impressed 
on the mind. 

In the United States no such conveniences exist ; and this is probably 
one reason ■why foreigners generally misunderstand and misrepresent us 
— they are not sufficicjitly informed to give a correct estimate of our re- 
sources, peculiarities, and institutions. They hastily pass over our rail- 
ways and rivers, and, for the want of suitable printed-guides, return as 
profoundly ignorant of the routes traversed as they were at the starting- 
point — for seeing is not understanding. 

In her physical aspect and resources, Pennsylvania is pre-eminently the 
most interesting State in the Union — yet, for the want oi popular descrip- 
tions and references, her real character is comparatively obscured from the 
public view. The most intelligent individual may make the tour from the 
Delaware to the Ohio by railroad, and yet be unable to identify one-half 
the towns, or mountains, or streams, or otherwise explain correctly the 
prominent local characteristics of the route traversed. Thousands of 
persons, of fortune and leisure, owing to this evil, are intimidated from 
travelling; while many proceed direct to Europe, before visiting the 
objects of interest in their own immediate land. 

It was as much with the hope of converting our time to a useful pur- 

(9) 



10 PREFACE. 

pose, as receiving a reasonable compensation for it, that we undertook to 
sketch, in a sprightly and popular way, some of the prominent features 
of our time-honoured Commonwealth. If we have collected together, in 
tolerable order, a mass of matter that will relieve, to some extent, the 
fatigue and monotony of travel, our main object has been attained. 

We may add, that over seventeen hundred dollars have been expended for 
pictorial illustrations, some of which we can point to as fair specimens of 
the art. During the particular time we were engaged in the preparation 
of these pages, however, an unusual activity prevailed among our best wood 
engravers, in consequence of large orders from the Government. We 
were, therefore, in several instances, forced to employ artists of ordinary 
talent — though, upon the whole, we think the reader will find little to 
complain of under this head. 

The matter is, what it purports to be, off-hand, and no particular cre- 
dit is claimed or expected for it. We have profited from the works of 
others to a greater extent than we should, had our time been less limited. 
Our acknowledgments are due to the works of the late Prof. Richardson, 
and to those of Mr. Day, Mr. Trego, and others, from which the matter 
not strictly original has been mainly extracted. With these explanations 
our work is done. 

E. B. 

N. B. — It is proper to add, that not having corrected the latter portion 
of this work as it was passing through the press, some errors appear 
which would not otherwise have occurred. 



PAET I. 

f nlUii nf i\}t irliniilkill. 

PHILADELPHIA TO POTTSVILLE. 

Starting from the Depot — Preston Retreat — Girard College — Fairmount 
Waterworks — Lager Beer Establishments — Railroad Bridge — Ice Houses — 
Tom Moore's Cottage — Laurel Hill Cemetery — Falls of the Schuylkill — 
Port Richmond — The Wissahickon — Norristown Railroad — Manayunk — 
The Factory System — Limestone Region — Spring Mill — The Copper Re- 
gion — The Lead Region — Scenery of the Schuylkill — Conshehocken — 
Norristown — Montgomery County — Bridgeport — Valley Forge — Historical 
Associations — Phcenixville — Yellow Springs — Tunnel and Bridge — Royer's 
Ford — Limerick — Pottstown — Berk's County — Douglassville — Birdsboro' 
— Reading — Union Canal — Schuylkill Navigation Company — The Reading 
Railroad Company — Dragon's Cave — Revolutionary Incidents — Ham- 
burg — Port Clinton — Auburn — Orwigsburg — Schuylkill Haven — Mine Hill 
Railroad — Head's Mansion House — Pottsville — Speculating Scenes — Swa- 
tara Falls — Tamaqua — Summit Hill — Gravitation Railroad — Mauch 
Chunk. 



PART II. 

fljB !HiitjiraritB (i^nnl lUginu. 

Coal, its Nature and Origin — Fossils — Coal Vegetation — The Strata of 
the Earth — The Dip — Valleys — Discovery of Anthracite Coal — Geographi- 
cal Position, Dimensions and Strncture of the Coal Basins — Geological 

(11) 



12 CONTENTS. 

Character of the Coal Formation — Productive Value of Coal Lands — His- 
tory of Mining Operations — Anthracite for Smelting Iron — Ventillation of 
Mines and Gaseous Explosions — Fire Damp — Moral Condition of Mi- 
ners, &c. — Miscellaneous Statistics — Analysis of Anthracite — Weight of 
Anthracite Coal — General Features of Pennsylvania Anthracite — Com- 
parative Value of Anthracite and Bituminous Coals — Anthracite Coal 
Trade of Pennsylvania — Canal and Piaiboad System connected with the 
Coal Trade. 



PART III. 

IBifnmiiig. 



Route to Wilkesbarre — Luzerne County — Fish and Fishing — Wyoming 
Valley — Falling Spring — Count Zinzendorf — Contentions among the Set- 
tlers — Revolutionary Battles — Capture of Miss Slocum — The Ice and 
Pumpkin Floods — Wyoming Monument. 



PART IV. 

^ljilahl|i'Ijifi to |5itt0tiiirg. 

Railroad Depot — Gas Works — Market Street Bridge — Blockley Alms 
House — White Hall — Eagle Hotel — Paoli — Gen. Wayne's Birthplace — 
Paoli Monument — Downingtown — Coatesville — Parkesburg — Pennington- 
ville — Chester County — The Quakers — Lancaster County — Its Agricul- 
ture — Fox Chase — The Brothers and Sisters at Ephrata — Ephrata 
Springs — Monument at Ephrata — The Conestoga — Safe Harbom* Iron 
Works — Shad Fishing in the Susquehanna — Steam Navigation Experi- 
ments — Robert Fulton — Columbia — Pennsylvania Canal — Tide Water Ca- 
nal — Marietta — Mount Joy — Elizabethtown — Middletown — The Susque- 
hanna — Harrisburg — The Internal Improvements — State Capitol — John 



CONTENTS. 13 

Hancock's Chair — Public School System — rennsylvania Lunatic Hospi- 
tal — The Cove — Fish Baskets — Duncannon — Petersburg — Liverpool — 
Pen-y County — Franklin County — Duncan's Island — Newport — the Juni- 
ata — Millerstown — Tuscarora — Juniata County — Mifflin — Patterson House 
— Mifflin County — Lewistown — Reedville — Logan, the Indian Chief — 
Alfarata — McVey Town — Newton Hamilton — Huntingdon County — Bed- 
ford County — Mount Union — Mapleton — Mill Creek — Huntingdon — Pul- 
pit Piocks — Head AVaters of the Juniata — The Iron Region — Union Fur- 
nace — Birmingham — Ironville — Tyrone — Cornwall Ore Banks — Lebanon 
Furnaces — Miner's Tools — Manufacture of Iron, amply illustrated — Sink- 
ing Spring — Tussey's and Bald Eagle Mountains — Tyrone City — Altoona 
— Pennsylvania Fiailroad — The Mountain House — Ilollidaysburg — The 
Portage Railroad — Making Maple Sugar — Bridges over the Conemaugh — 
The Alleghany Bituminous Coal Region — Structure and Origin of the 
Alleghanies — Conemaugh — Johnstown — Ebensburg — Cambria County — 
Lockport — Westmoreland County — Ligonier Valley — Packsaddle Rocks — 
Blairsville — Latrobe — The Lumber Region — Susquehanna Lumber Trade 
— Salt Springs — Greensburg — Braddock's Battle — Washington Crossing 
the Alleghany — Pittsburg — Western Commerce and Navigation. 



PENNSYLVANIA. 



BY PHILIP FRENEAU. 

Spread with stupendous hills, far from the main, 
Fair Pennsylvania holds her golden reign ; 
In fertile fields her wheaten harvest grows, 
Charged with its freights her favorite Delaware flows ; 
From Erie's lake her soil with plenty teems 
To where the Schuylkill rolls his limpid streams- 
Sweet stream ! what pencil can thy beauties tell — 
Where, wandering downward through the woody vale, 
Thy varying scenes to rural bliss invite, 
To health and pleasure add a new delight. 
Here Juniata, too, allures the swain. 
And gay Cadorus roves along the plain ; 
Sicatara, tumbling from the distant hill. 
Steals through the waste, to turn the industrious mill — 
Where'er those floods through groves or mountain strav. 
That God of nature still directs the way ; 
With fondest care has traced each river's bed, 
And mighty streams thro' mighty forests led ; 
Bade agriculture thus export her freight. 
The strength and glory of this favored State. 

She, famed for science, arts, and polished men, 
Admires her Franklin, but adores her Penn, 

(15) 



16 



PENNSYLVANIA. 

Who wandering here, made barren forests bloom, 
And the new soil a happier robe assume : 
He planned no schemes that virtue disapproves, 
He robbed no Indian of his native groves, 
But, just to all, beheld his tribes increase, 
Did what he could to bind the world in peace, 
And, far retreating from a selfish band. 
Bade Freedom flourish in this foreign land. 

Gay towns unnumbered shine through all her plains, 
Here every art its happiest height attains : 
The graceful ship, on nice proportions planned. 
Here finds perfection from the builder's hand, 
To distant worlds commercial visits paj'-s. 
Or war's bold thunder o'er the deep conveys. 



OPr-HAND SKETCHES 



PART I. 



; ssy 



kind 



in the 



'ijjt Imlbtj nf \\)t IrjjntjlltilL 

Let us, since life can little else supply, 

Than just to look around us, and to die, 

Expatiate free o'er all this scene of man — 

A mighty maze, but not without fi plan ; 

A wild, where weeds and flov/ers promiscuous shoot, 

Or garden, tempting with forbidden fruit. 

Together let us roam this ample field — 

Try what the open, what the covert yield ; 

Eye Nature's walks — shoot folly as it flies. 

And catch the manners, living, as they rise ; 

Laugh where we must — -be candid where we can, 

But always vindicnto the ways of God to man! 

ROM Philadelphia to Potta- 
ville, Tamaqua and Mauch 
Chunk, thence to Wilkes- 
barre, in Wyoming ; — this is 
thejourney before us. Hav- 
ing seated ourselves in the 
comfortable cars of the Read- 
ing Railroad Company, the 
first object which arrests our 
attention, after leaving the 
depot at Broad near Callow- 
hill street, is the Preston 
Retreat, a fine marble build- 
ing on our right ; we then 
catch glimpses of the Eastern 
Penitentiary, which served 
as a model for European 
Institutions of a like char- 
§; acter, and of Girard College, 
the finest building of the 
United States, and one of the finest in the world. 
C (17) 




18 



OTF-HAND SKETCHES. 




GIRAED COLLEGE. 



Shortly after which we see, on our left, the Fairmount Water-works, 
and although a notice of it is not strictly within the range of this 
work, it may nevertheless prove interesting to many to learn some- 
thing of its leading features, especially as it was the first establish- 
ment of the kind ever erected in the United States ; and, in point 
of boldness of conception and romantic profile, probably inferior to 
none in any quarter of the globe. 

The first water-works were commenced in 1799. A steam-engine 
was placed in Chestnut street, near the Schuylkill, by means of 
which the water was elevated to a basin in Penn square, and from 
thence distributed to the city in wooden pipes. The quantity of 
water thus obtained was soon found to be entirely too small to supply 
the increasing demand, and the works were abandoned in 1815, after 
nearly $700,000 had been spent upon them. In 181G the works at 
Fairmount were commenced, the water being again raised by steam 
to an elevated reservoir. Steam was found too expensive, and 
arrangements were adopted in 1818, by which the water-power of the 
river was applied. A dam was erected in a diagonal course across 
the river, securing a head of water nearly thirty feet in depth, and 
conducted to the mill-houses, on the eastern side of the stream, as 
represented in the engraving on the opposite page. Here the water 



PAIR MOUNT WATER -WORKS 



19 




I'Ail'.JIOL'Nt \V AT IlK- WORKS. 



is forced up to tlie reservoir, elevated about one hundred feet above 
the level of the river, and fifty feet above the highest ground in the 
city. The reservoir, -when full, contains twelve feet of water, and 
is capable of holding over twenty-two millions of gallons. There 
are eighty-three miles of water-pipe laid down in the city, exclu- 
sive of the works of Spring Garden and the Northern Liberties, which 
probably have an equal extent in the adjoining districts of the city 
proper. The daily average consumption of water, from these works, is 
nearly five million gallons. Their total cost was $1,615,169, and they 
were designed and executed by the late Frederick Grafi", to whose 
memory a handsome monument is erected in the grounds fronting on 
the Schuylkill, from a design by his son. 

The comparison between the present works and the old steam- 
works, is greatly to the advantage of the former. It was not pos- 
sible, with the steam-engines, to raise one million two hundred and 
fifty thousand gallons per day — whereas, the present works, with 
only three wheels, can readily raise three times this amount, without 
any increase of expense. But if the same quantity were required 
to be raised by additional steam-engines, the annual expense would 
probably be at least $75,000. In other words, the expense of raising 
three hundred and seventy-five thousand gallons per day, by steam, 
would be $206 — by water, it is only $4. In this estimate, the first 
cost of the steam-engines or of the water-power is not considered. 

Those works are eminently worth a visit from the stranger. They 
are delightfully situated, and present a view, in connection with sur- 
rounding objects, of rare beauty and spirit. Tlio wire-bridge, stretch- 



20 OFF-HANDSKETCHES. 

ing across the Schuylkill, is also an interesting object, and is prob- 
ably one of the most complete structures of the kind, as we believe 
it was one of the first, ever erected in the United States. The ac- 
companying sketch exhibits a faithful view of the Water-works and 
Wire-bridge, as seen from the opposite side of the river. 

Within the suburbs of the city, scattered along the rail-road, 
several " lager beer" establishments will be noticed. These breweries 
are all of very recent origin, and lager beer is, to many, an unknown 
beverage. It is a German drink, of which they are very fond, and 
is similar in taste and appearance to porter, but is said to have none 
of its deleterious qualities. It is a weak, bitter, but not unpleasant 
beer, containing an abundance of hops. It derives its peculiar value 
and flavor from storage in vaults, as the word "lager" sufficiently 
implies. The longer it is stored, the finer becomes its quality. The 
vicinity of Fairmount has lately become the fountain-head of this 
description of manufacture, and it is consequently a favorite resort 
for Germans, who, ranged around their little square tables, with 
cigars, pipes, newspapers and glass-mugs of lager, 

Mingle o'er their friendly bowl, 
' The feast of reason and the flow of soul. 

As we pass Fairmount, the river Schuylkill, with its green banks, 
soft verdure, and rich foliage, is brought into view — the rail-road, 
until it crosses the bridge, diverging along its eastern bank. Here 
a number of spacious warehouses will be noticed, built directly along 
the water's edge, and afi'ording access for carts by means of scafibld- 
ing erected to their upper stories. These are ice-houses. They are 
built with much care, the walls filled in with tan-bark to exclude the 
air, and capable of storing an immense quantity of ice. The manner 
of collecting and storing the ice is very simple, and is fully illus- 
trated in the accompanying engraving. 

Of late years, the storage and shipment of ice has become a very 
considerable item of trade. A large quantity is required for the 
consumption of the city, but in addition to this, no inconsiderable 
amount is shipped to the South, as well as to foreign countries where 
the climate forbids its production. Vessels freighted with ice always 
obtain a return load, and thereby a judicious exchange of local com- 
modities is eifected with points where, under other circumstances, 
our trade would probably be less extensive, and our communication 




^t«v^"''■■- 



CROSSING THE SCHUYLKILL. 



23 




CUTTING ICE ON THE SCHUYLKILL. 



less frequent. Our eastern neighbors, always the first in the market 
•with their "notions," have now a serious competitor in Philadelphia 
in this branch of commerce. 

In seasons of scarcity, ice is brought down the Schuylkill, in the 
spring, from the mountain regions of Schuylkill county, where, the 
climate being somewhat colder, and the streams less impregnated 
with sediment, it attains a good thickness, as well as a pure and 
transparent quality. On the Schuylkill, it usually attains a thick- 
ness of from four to twelve or more inches, and is probably unrivalled 
for the purity of its mineral composition, and freedom from foreign 
and deleterious substances. Its color varies from snowy opaqueness 
to translucency, and sometimes to the most beautiful watery trans- 
parency. 

As we pass over the splendid rail-road bridge, a very interesting 
object presents itself A beautiful little island, overgrown with tall 
and slender trees, nestles in the midst of the river, and immediately 
in front of it, on the western shore, is situated an unique cottage, 
built of stone, and apparently of some antiquity. In front of the 
cottage are two old trees, wrinkled and gnarled, like the furrows in 
an old man's face. This cottage is now a rough and dilapidated 
affair, but it was once the temporary residence of the late Thomas 
Moore, the celebrated Irish poet. It bears the rather unpoctic name 
of " Pig's Eye," but to many is known as Tom Moore's cottage. 
We entered the house while our friend Brightly Avas sketching it, 



-4 OFF-IIANDSKETCHES. 

and found it indeed a relic of the past. The ceilings, ■which have 
never been plastered, reveal the rough joists, now blackened with 
smoke and greasy rust, while the occupants complained of the con- 
dition of the roof, which leaks badly. The cottage appeared other- 
wise warm and comfortable, as answering the humble pretensions 
of the lessee. But we thought there was some reason for his com- 
plaint against the landlord, who failed to put it in tenantable order, 
after receiving two months' rent in advance. If properly fitted up, 
it might still serve as the abode of the muse, — but, alas ! it can 
never again return to the scenes of its former glory. It is about 
forty-five years since Mr. Moore visited this country ; and the changes 
which have been made during this time, are probably no less striking 
elsewhere than on this spot. At that time, this little cot was sur- 
rounded with a comparative wilderness, the abode of merry warblers 
and of wild-flowers ; — the Schuylkill yet flowed in undisturbed tran- 
quillity, and its peaceful shores were fragrant with the rich profusion 
of its foliage. It was a spot well calculated to tempt the poet 
from the noisy scenes of the town, and no less calculated to lend 
inspiration to the harp which has given such celebrity to his 
melodies. 



" I went to America," (says the poet, after his return to Europe, ) " with pre- 
possessions by no means unfavorable, and indeed rather indulged in many of 
those illusive ideas with respect to the purity of the government and the primi- 
tive happiness of the people, which I had early imbibed in my native country, 
where, unfortunately, discontent at home enhances every distant temptation, and 
the western world has long been looked to as a retreat for real or imaginary op- 
pression ; as, in short, the Elysian Atlantis, where persecuted patriots might find 
their visions realized, and be welcomed by kindred spirits to liberty and repose. 
In all these flattering expectations I found myself completely disappointed, and 
felt inclined to say to America, as Horace says to his mistress, "intentata nites." 
Brissot, in the preface to his travels, observes that * freedom in that country is 
carried to so high a degree as to border upon a state of nature ;' and there cer- 
tainly is a close approximation to savage life, not only in the liberty which they 
enjoy, but in the violence of party spirit, and of private animosity which results 
from it The rude familiarity of the lower orders, and indeed the unpol- 
ished state of society in general, would neither surprise nor disgust if they 
seemed to flow from that simplicity of character, that honest ignorance of the 
gloss of refinement, which may be looked for in a new and inexperienced people. 
Eut, when we find them arrived at maturity in most of the vices, and all the 
l>ride of civilization, while they are still so far removed from its higher and 



3 




TOM M gore's cottage. 27 

belter characteristics, it is impossible not to feel that this youthful decay, this 
crude anticipation of the natural period of corruption, must repress every san- 
guine hope of the future energy and greatness of America." 

During his brief sojourn on the green banks of the Schuylkill, the 
poet produced several choice eJBTusions ; but it is to be regretted that 
these gems are associated with so much that, for his own high reputa- 
tion, had better been " left unsung." In his poem addressed to the 
Hon. W. K. Spencer, he speaks thus disparagingly of us : 

All that creation's varying mass assumes 
Of grand or lovely, here aspires and blooms ; 
Bold rise the mountains, rich the gardens glow, 
Bright lakes expand, and conquering rivers flow ; 
But mind, immortal mind, without whose ray 
This world 's a wilderness and man but clay ; 
Mind, mind alone in barren, still repose, 
Nor blooms, nor rises, nor expands, nor flows. 
Take Christians, Mohawks, Democrats, and all — 
Prom the rude wigwam to the Congress hall — 
From man the savage — whether slaved or free, — 
To man the civUized, less tame than he, — 
'Tis one dull chaos, one unfertile strife 
Betwixt half-polished, and half-barbarous life ; 
Where every ill the ancient world could brew 
Is mixed with every grossness of the new, — 
Where all corrupts, though little can entice. 
And naught is known of luxury but its vice. 

In his sweeping denunciations of the American character, he 
spares only the " sacred few" whom he met in Philadelphia: 

Yet, yet forgive me, oh ye sacred few. 
Whom late by Delaware's green banks I knew; 
Whom, known and loved through many a social eve, 
'Twas bliss to live with, and 'twas pain to leave. 
****** 
Believe me, Spencer, while I winged the hours 
Where Schuylkill winds his way through banks of flowers, 
Though few the days, the happy evenings few. 
So warm with heart, so rich with mind they flew, 
That my charmed soul forgot its wish to roam, 
And rested there, as in a, dream of home. 



28 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

The following lines purport to have been written on leaving 
Philadelphia : 

Alone by the Schuylkill a wanderer roved, 

And bright were its flowery banks to his eye ; 
But far, very far were the friends that he loved, 

And he gazed on its flowery banks with a sigh. 
Oh Nature, though blessed and bright are thy rays, 

'er the brow of creation enchantingly thrown, 
Yet faint are they all to the lustre that plays 

In a smile from the heart that is fondly our own. 
Nor long did the soul of the stranger remain 

Unblessed by the smile he had languished to meet ; 
Though scarce did he hope it would soothe him again. 

Till the threshold of home had been pressed by his feet. 
But the lays of his boyhood had stolen to their ear, 

And they loved what they knew of so humble a name; 
And they told him, with flattery welcome and dear, 

That they found in his heart something better than fame. 
Nor did woman — oh woman ! whose form and whose soul 

Are the spell and the light of each path we pursue; 
Whether sunned in the tropics or chilled at the pole. 

If woman be there, there is happiness too ; — 
Nor did she her enamoring magic deny ; — 

That magic his heart had relinquished so long, — 
Like eyes he had loved was her eloquent eye. 

Like them did it soften and weep at his song. 
Oh, blessed be the tear, and in memory oft. 

May its sparkle be shed o 'er the wanderer's dream ; 
Thrice blessed be that eye, and may passion as soft. 

As free from a pang, ever mellow its beam ! 
The stranger is gone — but he will not forget. 

When at home he shall talk of the toils he has known, 
To tell, with a sigh, what endearments he met. 

As he strayed by the banks of the Schuylkill alone ! 

It was also during his lonely rambles on the banks of the Schuyl- 
kill that the following beautiful ballad stanzas were written — most 
probably while contemplating some neighboring cottage : 

I knew by the smoke, that so gracefully curled 

Above the green elms, that a cottage was near ; 
And I said, " If there 's peace to be found in the world, 

A heart that was humble might hope for it here !" 



LAURELHILLCEiMETERY. 31 

It was noon, and on flowers that languished around 

In silence reposed the voluptuous bee ; 
Every leaf was at rest, and I heard not a sound 

But the woodpecker tapping the hollow beech-tree. 
And " Here, in this lone little wood," I exclaimed, 

" With a maid who was lovely to soul and to eye, 
Who would blush when I praised her, and weep if I blamed, 

How blest could I live, and how calm could I die !" 
By the shade of yon sumach, whose red berry dips 

In the gush of the fountain, how sweet to recline, 
And to know that I sighed upon innocent lips. 

Which had never been sighed on by any but mine ! 

Whatever may be thought of the justness of Mr. Moore's estimate 
of our country forty-fivo years ago, it hardly needs comment now. 
The poet, then young and inexperienced, lived long enough to form 
different and more correct opinions. It is but a few months since he 
died, after lingering, for a considerable time, in a melancholy and 
imbecile state of mind. Whatever his sentiments may have been, 
subsequently to his visit to this country, as to the state of American 
civilization, literature, and the arts, is now perfectly immaterial ; — 
for, as a nation and a people, we have lived long enough to learn a 
little, and have not been without opportunities of illustrating our 
progress. We have paid our respects to old England in various 
ways, and at sundry times ; — and there can be no doubt but that she 
knoios us. Whatever our progress is, she finds it no child's play to 
keep up with us, whether on land or sea. As for poor Ireland — she, 
too, has heard from us, and whether we be " savages," "democrats," or 
"poets," she probably has a correct idea of the extent of our pro- 
ductive resources, if not of our benevolence. The spirit that can prompt 
generous feelings in one case, can supply it in all cases. No matter 
what the bard thought of us, we had a good opinion of him ; and the 
day will never dawn when American hearts will cease to beat to his 
happy strains. 

After leaving the cottage, we pass on to the Falls of Schuylkill, 
some six miles from the city. On our right, .on the other or eastern 
side of the river, is Laurel Hill Cemetery, one of the most lovely and 
inviting spots of the kind in this country. So popular has this 
necropolis of the dead become, that the company has been obliged 
to increase its area, and several adjacent tracts of land have accord- 



32 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



ingly been added to it. Many strangers own lots in this beautiful 
Cemetery, and some of its handsomest tombs and monuments have 
been erected over the remains of eminent men who served their 
country in important public capacities. We give an accurate view 
of a portion of the grounds from an original sketch just taken, as 
also a view of the grand entrance. 




eti/Gfi TL Ytin . ^^^. — =. ■'-^ 



ENTRANCE TO LAUREL HILL. 



The Falls of the Schuylkill were so called, because, in former times, 
before the erection of the Fairmount dam, they were quite percep- 
tible, but have since entirely disappeared. 

The Reading Railroad makes a fork at this point — one branch 
crossing the river by a splendid bridge, and extending to Port Rich- 
mond on the Delaware ; the other branch extending to the city, over 
which we have just passed. The road to Port Richmond is about five 
miles in length, and it is at this place that the great bulk of the coal 
l)rought down by the Reading Railroad is shipped. The facilities for 
this purpose are of the most extensive and admirable character. The- 
wharves are extended a considerable distance into the river, over 



r: 
n 
tit 



> 

a 







P R T R I C II M N D . 37 

■which the railroad is prolonged into numerous lateral branches, sup- 
ported on strong tressel-works. The loaded cars are hauled to the 
water's edge, where large apartments are erected for the storage of 
the coal. These apartments lie under the tressel-works, the bottoms 
of which descend, with a slight inclination, over the water's edge. 
The contents of the cars are discharged from the bottom, (being con- 
structed expressly for that purpose,) and the coal falls directly into 
the proper apartments below, assigned for the different sizes and 
qualities. A vessel, therefore, to be loaded, has merely to be drawn 
up to the wharf, under the projecting spout of the coal apartments, 
when a wicket is raised, and the coal issues out in one continuous 
stream. The operation of unloading the car, and of loading a vessel, 
is consequently very simple ; yet the contrivance, in its original con- 
ception, is one of great practical merit, saving annually, as it does, a 
large amount of money and time. The engraving illustrates the pro- 
cess just described, at the same time that it conveys an idea of the 
extent of the business of shipping the coal at Port Richmond. The 
Reading Railroad, after many years of hard struggling, has laid down 
a foundation for future success as broad, and practical, and compre- 
hensive, as it was possible for human industry and ingenuity to 
devise. The earnings of the company, amidst all its former embar- 
rassments, were, in a great measure, necessary to its complete equip- 
ment. To make ii productive, accommodations corresponding with the 
stupendous trade of the road had to be provided ; and this, too, in 
the midst of its darkest and most trying history. But the improve- 
ments are now made and completed, and stand forth as shining 
monuments to the energy and well-directed management of the 
road. 

On our return to the Schuylkill, we shall diverge into the city, and 
" see what is to be seen" on the Philadelphia and Norristown Rail- 
road, which, on the opposite shore of the river, runs parallel with the 
Reading Railroad from the Falls to Norristown, and embraces nearly 
every object of interest between those two places. The first object 
that strikes ns, in connection with this road, is a new, elegant, and 
imposing one, viz. : the depot situated at the corner of Ninth and 
Green streets. This handsome edifice has just been completed, at a 
cost of some 810,000. It is, in many points of view, a model of archi- 
tectural skill — combining the practical with the ornamental, at the 
lowest possible cost. The business of this road, extending from 



38 



OFF-HAND SKETCH K:<>. 




PHILADELPHIA AND NORRISTOWN RAILROAD DEPOT. 



Philadelphia to Norristown, with a branch to Germantown, is rap- 
idly increasing, and has been the instrument of scattering along the 
route it traverses an active, intelligent, and enterprising population. 
The trade, of course, is mainly local, including the conveyance of 
passengers. Many of the business men of Philadelphia have summer 
residences in the vicinity of the road, while others permanently 
reside in the country. These, added to the ordinary movements of 
the dense population along the route, make the conveyance of pas- 
sengers an important item, which must annually increase with the 
progressive increase of business. The road, a short distance from 
the city, passes over the Port Richmond branch of the Reading 
Railroad, and soon after appears at the point from which we diverged, 
viz : the Falls of Schuylkill, a view of which is annexed. The 
extensive buildings lying at the western end of the village, between 
the railroad and the river, comprise the chemical works of Messrs. 
Weightman, Harrison & Co. The greater portion of the population 
is supported by these large and splendid works, the proprietors 
of which have an establishment, equally extensive, in the city. Phila- 
delphia is justly distinguished for its chemical productions, and the 
firm above mentioned probably stands at the head of this description 
of manufacture — one of the most complicated and arduous, we may 
add, that human industry and capital could embark in. 




i'Sli,,, ||iii|ii|l|i!ll!!m| 
I III 



■ i 



|l| ll 'iM . I 






,„ ,::i!ilii;iil 



i;iil,i' 



THE WISSAHICKON. 



41 



The vicinity of the Falls is much frequented, in the summer time, 
by the citizens of the town. They ride out here to obtain an airing. 
The romantic and picturesque Wissahickon empties into the Schuyl- 
kill a short distance above the village, and this is the principal source 
of attraction. Its banks are bold and rocky, overgrown with stately 
trees, whose shade affords a cool retreat from the heat, and dust, and 
parched and sultry avenues of the city. There are several hotels, 
or places of refreshment, both in the village and on the Wissahickon, 
and there is no lack of material to gratify or amuse the visitor. The 
drive from the city is very refreshing — the road being remarkably 
smooth, and studded all along with handsome cottages and tasteful 
scenery, as well as objects of historical and general interest. It is 




THE niGH BRIDGE ACROSS THE WISSAHICKON. 

customary to enjoy the ride late in the afternoon, before dusk, while 
many drive out to partake of the celebrated " catfish and coffee," 
and return by " the light of the moon." Riding by horse-back, both 
for ladies and gentlemen, is in these days one of the requisites of a 
polite education ; — and the taste for the exercise is indulged to the 
fullest extent — though there is still a corresponding number of 
vehicles, some of them splendid equipages, to be met on the road. 
Pic-nic parties are very frequent in this quarter, and the arrange- 
ments of the Norristown Railroad are no less complete for their 
accommodation than the attractions of the grounds. 



42 OFF'lIANDSKETCHES. 

The engraving on page 41 exhibits a view of the Norristovrn Railroad 
bridge across tiie Wissahickon, near its junction with the Scliuylkill. 
The bridge is a fine specimen of architecture, and viewed in connec- 
tion with the adjacent scenery, is probably one of the most picturesque 
scenes to be found in this quarter of the State. It stands seventy- 
five feet above the level of the water, and is abovit three hundred 
feet in length. The entire route of this rail-road, from Philadelphia 
to NoiTistown, is full of beautiful and varied scenery, nearly every 
inch of which is identified, in some way or other, with historical as- 
sociations more or less interesting. From Fairmount to Mauayunk, 
there is a succession of smiling villas, handsome grounds, and unique 
cottages, — while the hum and rattle of the loom and the shuttle, the 
clinking of the hammer, the grit of the saw-mill, the steam and 
blaze of the numerous iron works and manufactories, no less than 
the general life and bustle of the way-side, keep the visitor continu- 
ally on the qui vice of excitement. 

About one mile beyond the Wissahickon is Manayunk, situated on 
the east side of the river. It is the seat of very extensive and varied 
manufactures — embracing cotton and woollen factories, flour and 
paper mills, furnaces, machine shops, &c. The town owes its origin 
and onward progress entirely to the facilities afi'orded by the Rail- 
road, and the Schuylkill canal, which passes directly through the 
principal street, and supplies the water-power for all its manufactur- 
ing establishments. Some of these establishments are among the 
oldest in the United States, having been commenced in 1819, upon 
the completion of the canal, and when the present site of the place 
was overgrown with trees and wild bushes. At that time, Mana- 
yunk, with some other points lower down, was an excellent spot for 
shad-fishing ; — but since the erection of the dams in the Schuylkill, 
this splendid fish has ceased its periodical visits to these waters, and 
the business, once very considerable, is now entirely discontinued. 

The present population of Manayunk is probably about seven 
thousand — almost every person, of both sexes, being engaged in the 
industrial interest of the place. It was our desire to have presented 
a view of the interior of a cotton factory, and for that purpose, in 
company with our artist, we waited on one of the principal factors 
in that place. Without deigning to see us, he refused to give us admis- 
sion, and the refusal was couched in terms so sharp and contemptu- 



M A X A Y r N K . 



43 




MANAYUNK. 



ous, that it naturally suggested a few thoughts as to the moral and 
social tendencies of the factory system in our country. We never 
before realized to the extent we did on this occasion, the haughty 
and austere manner, the cold, biting dignity, which a commanding 
position over two or three hundred poor operatives, is calculated to 
impress on some individuals. While we are free to admit tho ad- 
vantages which those establishments are capable of conferring, it is 
not to be disguised that, in the hands of some men, they may be con- 
verted into engines of great social oppression. The spirit of enter- 
prise which induces our citizens to make large investments in the 
industrial pursuits, cannot be too highly admired and extolled ; but 
the motives which subsequently turn some of them into uncouth and 
selfish nabobs, are altogether unworthy the character of a gentleman 
or a republican. 

The most prominent evils attending the factory system in this 
country, are the natural results of capital, combined with a specida- 
tive purpose, to which the factory is made subservient and subordi- 
nate. Thus, an individual with a capital of one hundred thousand 
dollars, purchases a favorable location for a foctory— no matter 
^vhat kind— which is to employ from one to three hundred operatives. 
The location we will suppose to comprise one hundred acres of land, 
for which five thousand dollars are paid cash, and the remainder 
upon a credit of twelve months. The factory buildings are now 



44 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

commenced, which will absorb fifteen thousand dollars— one-half to 
be paid cash, the remainder upon credit. In the meantime, the tract 
of one hundred acres is laid off into town lots, and twenty or thirty 
tenements erected, at a cost of four thousand dollars — one-half cash. 
Thus far about $28,000 have been expended, of which one-half is 
credit. From ten to thirty thousand dollars are yet required to equip 
the factory with the necessary machinery, — say $20,000, and we 
have a total expenditure of upwards of $50,000. There now remains 
a capital of $50,000 additional to purchase stock, and as a fund to 
carry on the mill, which is set in operation at high loages for the 
operatives, and under favourable auspices to attract mechanics, 
labourers and tradesmen to the village. A brisk demand for houses 
and lota ensues, and the greater the demand the gi-eater becomes the 
value — ergo, in a short time probably more than one hundred thou- 
sand dollars will have been realized from the sales and rents of 
houses and lots, and thus, without reference to the immediate pro- 
ductions of the fixctory, a handsome fortune has been realized from a 
comparatively small investment. As soon as this manoeuvre is 
terminated, and when the village is filled to repletion, another card 
is to be played. The factory cannot be conducted with profit under 
high rates of wages — the prices of labor must be reduced, or the 
works suspend operation. Here ensues a panic — a general stag- 
nation of all the affairs of the village. Many will sell out their 
houses and lots at a sacrifice, and move away ; others will seek new 
employments, while, in the meantime, some will work on at reduced 
wages. The speculator now again makes his appearance, and it is 
not long before a large number of lots are in his possession, and 
thus, probably to a less extent than before, the same speculation is 
acted over. 

We would not create the inference that our factory system gener- 
ally is under the influence of such speculative movements ; but we 
mention this as one of the evils which have hitherto surrounded it, 
and which have, in a great measure, crippled its operations, and 
raised an amount of political opposition which could not, under 
other circumstances, exist. But, independent of this, there are other 
objections, arising from the centripetal agency of such establislmients 
in attracting around them the necessary operatives, always consti- 
tuting a population more or less numerous. As this population is 
solely dependent upon the "lord of the loom," it is liable to be 



THE LIMESTONE REGION. 45 

thrown into idleness at his whim or caprice, and thus a general de- 
preciation of their condition and prospects ensues, while frequently 
industrious and virtuous families are exposed to want and suffering. 
Labor is not only degraded by such means, but it is robbed of its just 
reward, and, as a natural consequence, children of both sexes are 
driven, by the necessities of their condition, into the factory, where 
they earn a bare subsistence at the same time that they secure pre- 
mature graves. It is impossible to contemplate the condition of these 
operatives without arriving at the conclusion that there is somethinn- 
morally wrong in the system, as well as socially inconsistent with 
the spirit of our institutions. 






■' Y^^sM^-^ 




ANTHRACITE FURXACE ABOVE MANATUNK. 

A short distance above Manayunk is one of the most extensive 
anthracite furnaces in Pennsylvania. It is situated on the east bank 
of the Schuylkill, and presents a spirited scene when viewed from the 
Reading Railroad, on the opposite side of the river, especially in the 
evening, when the flames issue from the chimneys illuminating the 
whole establishment in their red glare. These works have been in 
operation for several years, notwithstanding the recent depression of 
the iron market, which prostrated a large number of furnaces in the 
valley of the Schuylkill. As we shall elsewhere make some remarks 
in reference to the manufacture of iron, we must forbear touching 
upon that point in this connection. 

With the exception of the natural scenery along the Schuylkill, 
there is little of interest or importance until we reach the great lime- 
stone region which traverses a large area of the south-eastern counties 
of Pennsylvania. This limestone formation is a continuation of tho 



46 OFF-HANDSK ETCHES. 

g^eat valley of Chester county, and constitutes, by far, its most 'ni- 
portant feature. It occupies a position in the stratified primary 
group, and teems with narrow belts and valleys, adapting it for suc- 
cessful culture as well as for excavation. The largest beds of lime- 
stone are met alx>ve Spring Mill, and alternate in subordinate ridges 
and valleys of denudation for some distance above Norristown, where 
the hills of the Mine llidge, somewhat flattened down, rise through 
and cut ofi" the basin. The limestone is not uniform in quality, but 
the lime produced from it is, upon the whole, highly esteemed, and 
probably the best argument in its favor is the immense quantity an- 
nually produced and shipped for the supply of Philadelphia and 



LIME KILNS NEAR SPRING MILL. 



other points more distant. At various points along the Schuylkill, 
especially near Spring Mill, Conshehocken, and Port Kennedy, there 
are very extensive quarries, where kilns have been erected for burn- 
ing the stone — the canal and railroads, on both side of the river, 
affording excellent facilities for transporting the lime to market, as 
well as for supplying the kilns with fuel. The lime kilns are large 
and substantial, but erected without much regard to ornament. 
They are generally placed on the slope of a hill, so as to allow the 
limestone to be hauled to and thrown in at the top. The stones, as 
placed in the kiln, form an arch over the hearth, with sufficient space 
between the alternate layers of stone and coal to permit the heat to 
penetrate and decompose them. The stones are thus thoroughly 
roasted, and in duo time crumble into powder or small white parti- 
cles, in which state the lime is in a marketable condition. 

Spring Mill receives its name from a superb spring, which bubbles 



LIME AND LIMESTONE. 



47 



up with great force in the midst of a beautiful grove of trees. The 
water is as clear as crystal, through which the pebbles at the bottom, 
some thirty feet, can be distinctly seen. It is quite cold in the warm- 
est weather. v . . „ 
Limestone Is the general name applied to all massive varieties ot 
carbonate of lime, that form beds of great extent, or mountains. 
Calcspar is carbonate of lime in its purest state. It is generally 
transparent or translucent, the faces of the crystals sometimes very 
brilliant, but the bases of the hexagonal prism are always opaque. 
Its color varies, sometimes perfectly colorless, often of a topaz or 
honey yellow, and sometimes grey or reddish. Exposed to the blow- 
pipe, carbonate of lime does not swell nor fall to powder, but becomes 
white and caustic— it is then quick-lime; some varieties are phos- 
phorescent when heated, and shine with a pale yellow light. Satin- 
spar consists of fine parallel fibres, either straight or waved, and has 
a silky lustre ; it fills small veins in limestone rock, the fibres laying 
across the vein. There is a particular kind of limestone containing 
a large proportion of bitumen, which, when rubbed or scratched by 
any hard substance, or slightly heated, gives out a strong fetid odor. 
Chalk is carbonate of lime of an earthy texture. It forms the dig's 
along the south-east coast of England, which acquired for that island 
the name of Albion. Chalk formations are not often met with in the 
United States, though it probably exists to some extent. Hockinilk 
resembles chalk, but it is much more tender. It is found in the 
clefts of mountains, where it is deposited by water containing calca- 
reous particles. Stalactites are sometimes transparent, and have the 
crystalline structure of calcspar; sometimes they consist of parallel 
layers of difi"erent shades of color. This rock is often employed for 
vases and slabs, under the names of alabaster and omjx marble. 
Stalactites are constantly forming in nearly all rich limestone forma- 
tions of a cavernous structure. In the district of Port Kennedy, a 
few years ago, an extensive cavern was reached, where the process of 
the accumulation of stalactitic matter was illustrated. They are 
produced from the drippings of minute particles of calcareous 
matter, from water which percolates through the roof or sides of the 
rocks. When a small quantity of moisture arrives at the inner 
surface of the roof, before a drop is formed sufficiently large to fall 
by its own weight, a portion of it evaporates, and a rim-shaped film 
of solid matter is left adhering to the rock. Every succeeding drop 



48 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

increases the thickness of this film, until at length a slender tube is 
formed, which is constantly increased in thickness as well as in 
length. In general, the interior is quickly filled up, and becomes 
perfectly solid ; but sometimes the stalactites are hollow throughout 
a great part of their length. At Port Kennedy, where the process 
of formation had been interrupted while yet in its incipient stages, 
the stalactites coated the interior rocks with irregular thin fibres, in 
some cases forming conical arches, with borders of variegated color, 
and in others forming pyramids on the floor. The cavern was an 
object of considerable curiosity during the brief period it was open 
to visitors, and its numerous chambers presented an aggregate area 
fully equal to many of our largest public buildings. A concert was 
held in one of its largest saloons, on the fourth of July, 1846, at 
which several hundred persons were present. 

The limestone formations of this State, at numerous points, afford 
several varieties of superior marble. The eastern portion of the 
state, drained by the Schuylkill, is particularly rich in this valuable 
mineral, and finds a cheap and easy outlet to market. Much of the 
marble used for building purposes, as well as for monuments and 
articles of furniture, is obtained within a range of from ten to twenty- 
five miles around Philadelphia. The extensive buildings comprising 
the Girard College, were in part constructed from marble obtained in 
this neighborhood. There are several productive quarries in Lan- 
caster and other counties ; but those of Chester and Montgomery are 
the most extensive and abundant. Some of these quarries are over 
one hundred and fifty feet in depth, and powerful levers are used to 
hoist the massive pieces from their beds. At Conshehocken there is 
an extensive marble mill, where the rough pieces are sawed into 
patterns to suit the demands of the market. It is worthy of remark, 
that the edges of our limestone basins usually afford a marble of 
conglomerated character, beautifully variegated in color, similar to a 
variety of the Potomac marble, or to that constituting the interior 
pillars of the House of Representatives at "Washington. This marble 
is a sedimentary deposit, the various pebbles being cemented together 
by the calcareous matter of which it is composed. Though ex- 
tremely hard, it is, in some places, susceptible of the finest polish, 
and the reflection of the atoms upon the polished surface, at first 
glance, gives the impression of roughness, which is only dispelled by 
rubbing your hand upon it. A fine deposit of this peculiar rock lies 



T H E C O P P E R R E a I N . 49 

near BainbriJge, in Lancaster county ; also near Reading, in Berks 
county, -while it is elsewhere met with along the borders of our lime- 
stone beds, in the vicinity of slate and shale. 

This extensive region of limestone, which occupies, in numerous 
distinct belts or basins, a large portion of the area of what is termed 
the Atlantic slope is also associated with several useful metals, 
as the ores of copper, iron, lead, chrome, &c. The region of 
copper is principally north of the Mine Ridge— (the first chain of 
elevation met with proceeding in a north-west course,) and outcrops 
at various points in Pennsylvania, between New Jersey and Mary- 
land, which States it also penetrates. The most extensive deposit is 
probably in Adams county, where ample preparations for mining 
have recently been made, in the immediate vicinity of Gettysburg. 
Mining exploitations were also conducted, until lately, in the vicinity 
of Pottstown, but the ore was not found to be sufficiently productive 
to justify the continuation of the enterprize. More recently, opera- 
tions have been commenced near Valley Forge, and the probability 
is, that they will prove successful. In various other points attention 
has been directed to this vast mineral formation, and the time is 
evidently not inr distant, when the eastern portion of Pennsylvania 
will be as noted for its mines of copper and lead, as other parts of 
the State now are for their inexhaustible and extraordinary deposits 
of coal and iron. 

Nat ice Copper. — Like most of the native metals, it crystallizes iu the octa- 
hedral system ; but perfect crystals are seldom met with. It occurs sometimes 
in very large masses, hut most frequently in branching and leaf-like forms, 
scattered among the veinstone, or penetrating it; and the surface of these rami- 
fications is often thinly coated with green carbonate of copper, or tarnished with a 
brown color. In general it is very nearly pure copper, and has the color, hardness, 
and malleability of the refined metal, as we are accustomed to see it— sometimes 
it contains a minute proportion of silver.— (Varley's Mineralogy) Lake Superior 
is the most extensive region in the world for the production of native copper. 
In some parts of that region, the copper is penetrated by threads of pure silver, 
and grains of the same metal are scattered through it— a circumstance which 
has never been observed elsewhere. Its softness and ready solubility in every 
kind of acid, and in ammonia, distinguish copper from the few metallic minerals 
which at all resemble it. Copper is one of the metals that has been known and 
worked from the earliest period; — alloyed with tin, its hardness is much in- 
creased ; and this alloy proved the various kinds of bronze of which armor, 

5 G 



oO OFF-HAN DSKETCHES. 

weapons, knives, and other tools were manufactured by the former inhabitants 
of both the old and the new continent. Axes and knives from the tombs of the 
ancient Peruvians and Mexicans, chisels found in the quarries of Egypt, and 
Roman and Gaulish swords of great antiquity, have been analj'zed, an 1 foun i 
to contain from 75 to 96 per cent, of copper alloyed with tin. — (lb.) In the mines 
of Lake Superior tools and implements, and marks of previous workings, have 
been found, which can only be attributed to a race far anterior to the present 
era of the human family. The mines of New Jersey were worked by the first 
settlers long anterior to the Revolution. 

Euby Copper. — [Red Oxyde of Copper.) — This substance is of a fine crimson 
color, sometimes almost black, with vitreous lustre, ranging from semi-trans- 
parent to nearly opaque. It is brittle, and about as hard as fluorspar, with a 
specific gravity of 5 '6. It is often intermixed with native copper, but seldom 
with the other ores of this metal. Tile ore is a variety which is intermixed 
with oxyde of iron and other impurities, and forms thin flattish masses, some- 
thing like dark colored tiles. 

Black Oxyde of Copper — which is more oxydated than the preceding species, 
occurs in the form of a fine black powder, or in small masses of an earthy tex- 
ture, with some other copper ores. Both this and ruby copper are easily reduced 
on charcoal to metallic copper. 

Sulplmrets of Coj^per. — There are several combinations of sulphur with copper, 
some of which are valuable ores. Copper Glance — or vitreous copper ore — has 
a dark steel, gray color, and when freshly broken, a perfectly metallic lustre; 
but the exterior is often black and dull. It is most generally found in masses 
Avithout any regular form, or filling small veins. This is the richest of all the 
Eulphurets of copper, afibrding 75 per cent, of metal, and being in general very 
free from any other. It has been met with in some of the Cornish copper mines, 
but only in small quantity — but in the Ural mountains it is an object of exten- 
sive exploitation, occurring there in nodules of various sizes, disseminated in 
veins of clay and gravel. 

Variegated Copper Ore. — This was long considered to be the same substance as 
copper pyrites, of which the surface was tarnished ; but it difiers from it in con- 
taining less iron and sulphur, alToi-ding about 60 per cent, of copper, while cop- 
per pyrites does not yield more than 33 or 34. It is softer than the latter, and 
the color much redder — and it is less easily fusible than copper glance. 

Co])per Pyrites. — ( Yellow Coppier Ore) — is the most abundant of the English 
copper mines. Its color is that of brass, and its lustre perfectly metallic and 
shining, particularly when fresh broken. It is easily scratched by a knife; 
differing, in this character, from iron pyrites, which is much harder. Groups 
of small crystals are often sprinkled over other substances, as quartz, calcspar, 
fluorspar, galena, and blende. "When pure, copper pyrites consist of sulphur 
35-87, copper 34'40, and iron 30-47. Copper pyrites form veins in granite, 



THELEADREGION. 51 

slate, and other rocks, sometimes filling them entirely, sometimes distributed in 
irregular masses varying in size, and occasionally weighing some hundreds of 
pounds. 

drnij Copper Ore. — The composition of this ore varies exceedingly in different 
localities ; but it still presents nearly the same appearance — a light gray me- 
tallic substance. It consists principally of sulphurct of copper, antimony, and 
iron, with arsenic, zinc, or silver, and sometimes with all these metals — the pro- 
portion of the latter, in some instances, amounts to seventeen per cent., when 
the ore is worked for the sake of the silver as well as the copper. 

In the same region traversed by the limestone, — (or rather in the 
valley above the Mine Ridge — ) lead is found outcropping at different 
points. The ores are of various kinds, and in some cases comprise 
galena, with a plentiful mixture of silver. Extensive mining ope- 
rations have lately been commenced in the vicinity of Phocnixville, 
Valley Forge, and Perkiomen ; while the veins of the basin have 
been traced, here and there, over portions of the counties of Bucks, 
Montgomery, Chester, and Lancaster. The ore is, for the most part, 
pyromorphite — (phosphate of lead) a beautiful mineral, but not very 
abundant at any one district, though it appears to be plenty here. 
Its color rises from bright grass-green to yellow, orange, brown, and 
sometimes a dull violet. Most specimens contain nine or ten per cent, 
of tlie chlouret of lead — sometimes arseniate, and those of an orange 
color, chromate of lead. The chromates are found in great abundance 
in the Mine Ridge, in Lancaster county, of which we shall hereafter 
take occasion to speak. The ores are found in other spots in various 
stages of combination with other substances. In Bucks county, 
plumbago has long been mined to a considerable extent, and there 
is every reason to suppose that this interesting mineral, like the 
others, occupies a large portion of the peculiar formation in which it 
is found. 

Native Lead is of rare occurrence. It has been observed in small grains and 
laminae in some volcanic products, and, also, in some specimens of galena. It 
may be distinguished by its softness and sectility from the galena, which is hard 
and brittle. Minium (red oxyde of lead) is a red substance, occiu'ing in the 
form of powder in some veins of galena and calamine. It is the same sub- 
stance as the red lead used in painting; but for this and other purposes it is 
prepared artificially. 

Yellow Oxyde of lead, which is less oxydized than the preceding ore, occurs 



62 OFF-HANDS KETCHES. 

sometimes as a powder, sometimes in solid masses, not unlike yellow jasper', 
its great weight distinguishes it from all other minerals which otherwise re- 
semble it. 

Arseniate of Lead takes the same forms as the phosphate of lead, but tho 
prisms are often swelled in the middle, so as to have something of a howl shape ; 
color, generally pale yellow brown, and lustre often silky. 

Carbonate of Lead — (White Lead ore.) — This is tho same substance as the 
white lead of commerce, which is prepared artificially. It is abundant in some 
lead mines, filling large veins or intermixed with the other ores, either compact, 
earthy, or crystalline. Its crystals are derived from a light rhombic prism, 
difi'ering very little from that of arthente, and are often grouped so as to form 
a cross or star. It is the only mineral which equals the diamond in brilliancy ; 
its lustre, when pure and transparent, being adamantine. When fused by the 
blow-pipe on charcoal, a bead of lead is obtained ; or if dissolved in nitric acid, 
upon immersing a piece of zinc (the surface being quite clean) metallic lead 
will quickly be precipitated on it in brilliant laminse. When massive it has 
sometimes a crystalline structure, splitting readily into large flakes, with a 
brilliant siirface. An earthy variety resembling chalk in its appearance is 
common in some lead mines. But it is a mineral met with not only in lead 
mines : it is frequently found with copper pyrites and blende. In these situations 
it often forms columnar masses, with a silky lustre. The sulpho-carbonate of 
lead, which is this substance combined with about one-third of its weight of 
sulphate of lead, resembles it in brilliancy and weight, but when dissolved in 
nitric acid, it leaves a residue, which is sulphate of lead. Ilolyhdate of L ead 
crystallizes in square octahedrons, or very short prisms of four or six sides, 
of a dull yellow color, and translucent, which contain sixty-four per cent, of 
oxyde of lead. Sulphate of lead, in its general appearance, resembles the car- 
bonate of lead, but is rather softer and less brilliant, and may always be dis- 
tinguished from it by not efi'erveseing with any acid. Copreous sulphate of lead 
has been found in a few places, — it is colored by the copper it contains. 

Galena — (Sulphuret of Lead,) may generally be recognised by its crystalli- 
zations, and its very perfect cleavages, parallel to the faces of a cube, as well as 
by its pure lead-gray color. The surface is often dull, but the fracture always 
brilliant, and it is so brjttle that cleavages may be obtained by a very slight 
blow. The same crystalline structure prevails where the galena is massive, 
sometimes resembling that of statuary marble; more rarely it is granular, or 
compact, with scarcely any lustre. Its specific gravity is 7*5 to V'T. It is 
easily fused, giving off sulphureous fumes, and affording a globule of lead. 
Some galena is combined with sulphuret of silver. When this is in sufficient 
quantity to render it worth the expense of separating the silver, it is called 
argentiferous galena. In order to know whether galena contains any silver, 
dissolve a little in nitric acid, and dip into the solution a piece of copper; the 
silver, if there be any, will be deposited as a white metallic film on the copper 



T H E S C II U Y L K I L L . 58 

Bonynonite is a sulphuret of lead, copper and antimony — the former amounting 
to forty per cent. 

Graphite (Plumbago, or black lead.) The substance called black lead is well 
known to most persons ; but few, perhaps, are aware, that when they make use of a 
black lead pencil, they draw with a substance which is nearly identical with the 
diamond. It appears to be carbon, diflering from it, when pure, only in the 
state of aggregation of its particles ; it often contains a small portion of earthy 
matter, or of iron ; but as the latter amounts sometimes to only one or two per 
cent, both are now generally considered as accidental impurities. Graphite has 
always a metalic lustre, with sometimes a fine scaly structure, and soils the 
fingers when handled. Specific gravity 2 to 2"45. It occurs in several places 
in the United States, and no doubt a large quantity is deposited in the slaty 
formation traversing Pennsylvania. For the best pencils, it is used without 
any other preparation than that of sawing it into thin strips, which are after- 
wards enclosed in wood, or formed into thin rods for ever-pointed pencils; but 
great numbers of pencils of inferior quality are made of a mixture composed 
of black lead dust, intermixed with clay, and sometimes with lamp black, or 
sulphuret of antimony. 

Near the village of Conshehocken, the Schuj^lkill assumes a most 
beautiful appearance ; the banks, on both sides, are lined with 
stately trees, and foliage bending to the water's edge, while the 
stream is as smooth and clear as one broad sheet of glass. On the 




LANDSCAPE ON TOE SCHUYLKILL. 

one side we have the Norristown Railroad and the Schuylkill Canal, 
and on the other the Reading Railroad, over which are seen passing 
an almost endless procession of black coal-trains, and as they wind 
around the projecting knolls, and intervening valleys, a great rumb- 
ling noise is heard, amidst the shrill whistle of the locomotive ; 
5* 



54 OFF-IIANDSKETCIIES. 

the canal-boats lazily creep along, while around, as far as the 
eye can see, glorious nature spreads out in rich waving harvest- 
fields, and rolling elevations, -with hero and there a cluster of houses 
nestled amid the luxuriant scene. 

The village of Consuehocken, though of recent origin, is quite an 
interesting and important place. It is supported solely by several 
manufacturing establishments, which are carried on in its midst, and 
which have sprung up under the facilities afforded by the lines of 
improvement, no less than the rich and varied resom'oes adjacent. 
Of these, there is an extensive rolling-mill for the production of sheet- 
iron, and its manufactures are scarcely excelled by any similar article 
imported, having a close resemblance to the celebrated sheet-iron of 
Eussia. There is a very large marble-mill, which has already been 
alluded to, with several workshops of different kinds, and smaller 
extent ; while a company of enterprising men has just been organized 
to embark in the manufacture of a new description of useful ware. 
They intend to manufacture, principally from the lava of the furnaces 
in the vicinity, a description of glass for mantels, tables, and various 
ornamental purposes ; and as the productions can probably be af- 
forded at low rates compared with marble, and will prove equally 
durable, if not equally beautiful, there is a reasonable probability 
that this will ultimately form a distingiiishing feature of the place, 
if it does not originate an entirely new branch of trade. 

Between Conshehocken and Norristown, there are several extensive 
anthracite furnaces, as well as manufactories of various kinds. The 
banks of the river, on both sides, present many beautiful residences, 
and elegant, well-cultivated farms, while the scenery generally is of 
that soft and genial character, relieved occasionally by a rocky de- 
clivity or gently sloping hill, that pleases the eye of the observer, while 
it impresses him with the spirit of activity everywhere displayed. 

Norristown, the county-seat of Montgomery, seventeen miles dis- 
tant from Philadelphia, is one of the most beautiful boroughs in the 
United States. It lies on the east bank of the Schuylkill, rising to a 
gradual elevation from the water's edge. The streets are well drained, 
the houses substantially built, (many of them unusually elegant) 
the citizens remarkably intelligent, the society excellent, the location 
healthy, the general aspect that of an industrious and enterprising 
population, and, in short, the whole minutiae of the borough is such 
as to render it one of the most attractive with which we are ac- 



N O R R I S T W N 



55 




NORIUSTOWX. 



quainted. It contains several very extensive cotton and woollen 
factories, iron foundries, rolling-mills, and machine shops, vrith 
numerous other industrial establishments, of more or less extent, 
nearly all of Avhich are located on the river Ijank, and are supplied, 
like Manayunk, with a splendid water-power from the canal. The 
present population is probably between eight and ten thousand, and 
must greatly increase in the future under ordinary circumstances of 
favor. A brighter day than wo have known for the last five years 
is, we think, about to dawn upon our workshops. "We hope so, at 
any rate. 

Norristown was formerly included in the township of Norriton, 
comprising a manor belonging to William Penn. The land on which 
the town now stands was subsequently owned by several parties, 
when it finally came into the hands of Wm. M. Smith, who, in 1784, 
laid it out into town lots. During the revolution it was occupied as 
a farm, and belonged to a certain John Bull, who, notwithstanding 
Iiis name, was a thorough-going Whig, and the British, on their way 
to Philadelphia, paid him the passing compliment of burning down 
his barn. A short distance below the town, on the banks of tlie 
river, are still to be seen the traces of former entrenchments or 
breast-works, thrown up by Gen. Du Pontel, by order of Wash- 
ington, at a time when he expected the British to cross the river at 
this place. 



56 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

The first canal improvement undertaken in the United States, was 
commenced at Norristown, about the year 1792, of which the outline 
features are still to be traced. The project contemplated both a 
navigable water course, and a water works for Philadelphia. For 
this purpose, the canal was to be carried to Philadelphia on one level, 
without locks or outlets. After completing several miles of the 
heaviest part of the work, and spending over $400,000, the company 
became embarrassed, and were compelled to abandon the entei-prize, 
many of the principal parties having themselves been involved in 
commercial and financial ruin. The company, however, was after- 
wards consolidated into the Union Canal and the Schuylkill Naviga- 
tion, of both of which we shall presently have something to say. 

Montgomery is one of the richest and most favorably situated 
counties in Pennsylvania. In all the elements of real wealth and 
true prosperity, it is unrivalled. The soil consists principally of 
limestone and red shale — the latter performing well under good 
tillage, with the addition of the lime close at hand. The soil is tra- 
versed by several fine streams, of which the Schuylkill, comprising 
the greater portion of its southwestern boundary line, is the princi- 
pal ; the others next in importance being the Perkiomen and its 
branches, the beautiful and romantic Wissahickon and its branches, 
the Pennepack, Tacon}'^, Neshaminy, and others — all of which afi"ord 
excellent water-power. There are at this time not less than thirty 
merchant, one hundred and twenty grist, seventy-six lumber, eight 
marble, twenty paper, thirty-five oil, twelve clover, and about the 
same number of powder mills, in Montgomery county ; besides 
which, there are fifteen or more iron-works of various kinds, twenty- 
five large cotton factories, ten woollen factories, twelve fulling mills, 
and some thirty-five tanneries. This, for a county comparatively 
small in area, exhibits a productive capacity not easily surpassed. 

The county is supplied with some of the best turnpike roads and 
stone bridges to be found anywhere in Pennsylvania. One of these 
bridges (that over the Perkiomen) cost over $00,000, and was built 
nearly fifty years ago. The people seem early to have realized the 
importance of good roads, and an immense amount of money was 
freely expended to make them of the best and most durable char- 
acter. This principle should always be acted upon by the constituted 
authorities, for nothing contributes more to the lasting benefit, or 
enhances property to a greater extent, than good roads and bridges. 



THE PALLS TO NORRISTOWN. 57 

The first settlers of Montgomery county were principally Welsh, 
with a few Germans and English. The Germans gradually dispersed 
to the northern part of the county, where the language is still spoken 
to some extent. The Welsh, or their descendants, hjive long since 
abandoned their native language, in favor of the predominating 
English. The early settlers comprised some of the best men who 
ever landed on our shores — remarkable for their morality, industry, 
intelligence, and uniform respectability of deportment. The oldest 
place of worship noAV standing in Pennsylvania, was erected by them 
near the present town of Manayunk, in 1695. It was a Friends' 
meeting-house, and is still occupied by that respectable society. 

We have thus, somewhat briefly, given an exposition of some of 
the leading features of this interesting and remarkable valley, from 
the Falls of the Schuylkill to Norristown. Both sides of the river, 
we have previously remarked, are traversed by railways, running 
parallel with the Schuylkill navigation. The extensive manufactur- 
ing establishments, receiving their driving-power from the river, arc 
all located on its eastern side, which will account for its dense popu- 
lation and busy aspect, as compared with the opposite shore, traversed 
by the Reading railroad. It is this fortuitous circumstance which 
creates the sole trade of the Norristown railroad, at the same time 
that it materially aids the Reading railroad ; — for while the one is in 
the exclusive enjoyment of the local miscellaneous trade, the other has 
an abundance of tonnage in supplying a large portion of the fuel 
consumed. We should judge that at least fifty thousand tons of coal 
are annually transported by the Reading railroad for tlie supply of 
the lime-kilns and ordinary consumers, between Norristown and the 
Falls. The two railroads, therefore, (as well as the canal) are aux- 
iliary to each Qther's success. 

For the reason referred to, we havt little of interest to note, between 
the points designated, on the western side of the river. The sce- 
nery, in general, is attractive ; but owing to the splendid works of man, 
it has more of an artificial stamp, than the usually broader and more 
impressive one of Nature. The tunnel above Manayunk — the Schuyl- 
kill Navigation, with its numerous locks, and dams, and bridges — 
the towns and villages, with their busy work-shops and towering fac- 
tories — the numerous lime-kilns, furnaces, and mills — the turnpike 
roads, with their pondei-ous teams and carts ; the railroads, with their 
snake-like trains ; the electric telegraph, with its lofty poles stretching 

II 



58 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



out, single file, in magnificent procession ; the canal-boats, with their 
faithful, tugging horses, and sun-burnt crews — all evince the restless 
activity of man, and proclaim his glory to the passing observer. 

Leaving Norristown, we cross the Schuylkill by a splendid wooden 
bridge (indicated in the engraving), eight hundred feet in length, and 
again join the Reading railroad, which henceforth traverses every town 
and village on our route. Hero, indeed, is a sprightly little village 
before us, just emTjarking in the world. It is but yesterday since 
"it set up," and already we find it a considerable town, under the 
name, style and title of Bridgeport. The Reading Railroad is the 
guardian and patron of the little fellow, and under its friendly auspi- 
ces it will grow and thrive, until it becomes a good-sized, old-fashioned 
borough. 

After leaving Bridgeport, four miles beyond, we reach the village 
of Port Kennedy, of which we have already spoken in connection 
with the production of lime, constituting its sole trade. Two miles 
beyond this place is Valley Forge. Here every inch of ground is 
sacred to the cause of liberty and patriotic sufiering. There is not a 
heart in America — there is not a lover of liberal institutions anywhere, 
that will not swell with mingled awe and admiration, as he contem- 
plates the scenes and incidents with which this region is identified. 
Here was concentrated, in the darkest hour of the revolution, the 

sole reliance of/reedom against 
oppression ; here were centered 
our hopes and our fears — here 
were quartered, amid the snows 
and blasts of a severe winter, 
without clothing, and almost 
without food, sick, famished, 
barefooted, and dying, Wash- 
ington and his army. 

Valley Forge derives its name 
from a forge which stood near 
the mouth of valley creek, some 
time previous to the revolution. 
The grounds occupied by the largest portion of the encampment 
comprised both sides of the hill, south-east of the stream. The name 
of this hill is Mount Pleasant, and of that on the other side of the 
stream, Mount Misery. These terms were bestowed by William 




HEDOUBT AT VALLEY FOUGE. 



VALLEY FORGE. 



59 



Penn, -who, on one occasion, lost his way on the latter hill, and hav- 
ing regained it on the former, bestowed the names accordingly. Seve- 
ral extensive redoubts and breast-works were thrown up at sundry 
places, some of which, on the south-eastern side of the hill, are yet 
distinctly visible, and of which the engraving on page 58 conveys a 
correct idea. These works consist of large embankments of earth, 
arranged one after the other, along the slope of the hill, so that, in 
case of attack, the men could remain behind them, secure from the 
fire of the enemy. These breast-works, moreover, were surrounded 
with deep ditches, thus rendering the approach of the enemy hazar- 
dous amidst tlie fire of the soldiers within the redoubts. The re- 
doubts now lie in the depths of the forest, but their outlines, as well 
as the former sites of the miserable huts of the soldiers, are still dis- 
tinctly visible. The head-quarters of General Washington were in a 




Washington's quahters at valley foegi.. 



small stone house, which stands near the railroad, and from which 
a good view of it is afforded. A slight addition has recently been 
made to the back buildings, which originally consisted only of a 
small kitchen, erected by Washington himself. The room occupied 
by the General had a secret closet, in which he kept his oflBcial papers. 
In other respects the house is quite small, and without interest. 
Washington moved with his army to this romantic spot soon after 



GO 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



the battle of GGrmantown. He had previously been following the 
British in their movements along the Schuylkill, and finally attacked 
them at that place. It was after this engagement, therefore, that he 
took up his winter quarters in this place — a step which was dictated 
by the best motives of prudence and the public good. 

" His soldiers," says Mr. Day, " were too ill-clothed to be exposed 
to the inclemency of that season under mere tents ; it was therefore 
d( aided that a sufficient number of huts or cabins should be erected 
of logs filled in with mortar, in which the troops would find more 




EMCAJirMENT AT VALLEY FORGE. 



comfortable shelter. The army reached the valley about the 18th of 
December. They might have been tracked by the blood of their feet, 
in marching barefooted over the hard, frozen ground between White- 
marsh and Valley Forge. They immediately set about constructing 
their habitations, which were disposed in the order of a military 
camp, but had really the appearance of a regular town. Each hut 
was 16 feet by 14. One was assigned to twelve privates, and one to 
a smaller number of officers, according to their rank. Each General 
occupied a hut by himself. The whole encampment was surrounded 



WASHINGTON AT VALLEY FORGE. Gl 

on the land side by intrenchments, and several small redoubts ■were 
built at different points. A temporary bridge was throAvn across the 
river, to facilitate communications with the suri-ounding country. 

The army remained at this place until the ensuing sitmmer, when 
the British evacuated Philadelphia. 

This was the most gloomy epoch of the revolution. For many weeks the 
army, although sheltered from the wind, endured extreme sufferings from the 
want of provisions, blankets, and clothing. The Commissary's department, 
through neglect in Congress, had been badly managed, and on one occasion the 
supplies of beef were actually exhausted, and no one knew whence to-morrow's 
supply would come. Gen. Washington says, "For some days there has been 
little less than a famine in camp. A part of the army have been a week with- 
out any kind of flesh, and the rest, three or four days. Naked and starving as 
they arc, we cannot enough admire the incomparable patience and fidelity of 
the soldiery, that they have not ere this been excited to mutiny and dispersion. 
Strong symptoms of discontent have, however, appeared in particular instances." 
Such was the scarcity of blankets and straw that men were often obliged to sit 
up all night to keep themselves warm by the fire, and many were too ill clothed 
to leave their huts ! The want of wagons and horses, too, was severely felt 
for procuring supplies, and almost every species of camp transportation was 
performed by the men without a murmur, who yoked themselves to little car- 
riages of their own making, or loaded their wood and provisions on their backs. 
The small-pox threatened those who had not been inoculated. Provisions con- 
tinued to grow more and more scarce ; the country had become exhausted by 
the constant and pressing demands of both armies, and no doubt many pro- 
visions were concealed from the Americans by the disaffected tories, who found a 
better market at Philadelphia, and better pay in British gold, than in continental 
money. Washington stated that there were in camp on the 23d December, not 
less than 2898 men unfit for dutj' by reason of their being harefoot and other- 
wise naked, besides many others detained in hospitals, and crowded into ftirmer's 
houses, for the same causes. Happily for America, there was in the character 
of Washington something which enabled him, notwithstanding the discordant 
materials of which his army was composed, to attach both his officers and soldiers 
so strongly to his person, that no distress could weaken their affection, nor im- 
pair the respect and veneration in which he was held by them. To this is to be 
attributed the preservation of a respectable military force under circumstances 
but too well calculated for its dissolution. 

In the midst of these trying scenes, a strong combination was formed against 
Washington, in which several members of Congress, and a very few officers of 
the army were engaged. (See Reading.) Gen. Gates, exulting in his laurels 
recently gained at Saratoga, Gen. Lee, and Gen. Conway, (neither of them 
native Americans!) were at the head of this movement, and the stroncrest 

6 



62 orr-HANDSKETCHES. 

attempts were made to involve Gen. Lafayette into it also, but he openly and 
promptly avowed his attachment to Washington, and spurned the insidious 
efforts to supersede him in favor of Gates. The result of this base conspiracy is 
well known — it did not injure Washington, while it consigned the authors to the 
contempt of the public. Conway, the principal party in the affair, an Irishman 
by birth, was called to account, and finally died from the effects of a wound 
received in a duel with Gen. Cadwallader. Gates never could give a satisfactory 
explanation of his conduct, and the consequence is a blur on his reputation, 
which no previous or subsequent act of his has been able to obliterate. 

It was during the encampment at Valley Forge, that the brave and kind- 
hearted Baron Steuben joined the American army — a position having been va- 
cated by the subsequent resignation of Gen. Conway. Steuben, as is well 
known, was one of the most thorough military disciplinarians in Europe, and it 
was through his talents and instructions that our men acquired a facility and 
precision in military tactics which soon after enabled them to carry the Revolu- 
tion to a glorious termination. Mr. Headley, in speaking of Steuben, says : " A 
more sorry introduction to our armj', for one who had served in Europe, could 
not well be conceived. He had found our cities in possession of a powerful 
enemy, and when he came to look for the force that was to retake them, he saw 
only a few thousand famished, half-naked men, looking more like beggars than 
soldiers — cooped up in miserable log huts, dragging out the desolate winter 
amid the straw. As the doors of these hovels opened, he beheld men destitute 
of clothing, wrapping themselves up in blankets, and muttering complaints 
against Congress, which could treat them with such injustice and inhumanity. 
He was astoniehed, and declared that no European army could be kept together 
under such sufferings. All discipline was gone, and the troops were no better 
than a ragged horde, with scarcely the energy to struggle for self-preservation. 
There was hardly any cavalry, but slender artillery, while the guns and ac- 
coutrements — a large portion of them — were unfit for use. Our army had never 
before been in such a state, and a more unpropitious time for Steuben to enter 
on his work could not have been selected. Nothing daunted, however, and with 
all the sympathies of his noble nature roused in our behalf, ho began, as soon as 
spring opened, to instruct both ofiicers and men. His ignorance of our language 
crippled him at first very much ; while the awkwardness of our militia, who, 
gathered as they were from every quarter, scarcely knew the manual exercise, 
irritated him beyond measure. They could not execute the simplest manoeuvre 
correctl}', and Steuben, who was a choleric man, though possessed of a soul full 
of generosity and the kindliest feelings of human nature, would swear and curse 
terribly at their mistakes, and when he had exhausted all the epithets of which 
he was master, would call on his aid-de-camp and ask him to curse in his stead ! 
Still the soldiers loved him, for he was mindful of their sufferings, and often his 
manly form was seen stooping through the doors of their hovels, to minister to 
their wants and relieve their distresses. 



BARON STEUBE N — W H I T E M A R S II . 63 

It was his practice to rise at three o'clock in the morning, and tlress his hair, 
smoke, and take a cup of coffee, and at sunrise be in the saddle. By that 
time also, if it was a pleasant day, he had the men marching to the field for their 
morning drill. First, he would place them in line, then pass along in front, 
'.'urefully examining their guns and accoutrements, and inquiring into the con- 
duct of the subordinate officers. The fruit of his labor soon appeared in the 
improved condition of his men, and AVashington was very much impressed with 
the value of his services. Owing to his recommendation he was made Inspector 
General. This branch of the service now received the attention it deserved, 
and discipline, before irregular, or practised only under particular leaders, was 
introduced into every portion. All the arrangements, even to the minutest, 
were planned and perfected by Steuben, and the vast machinery of our army 
began to move in harmony and order. He had one company which he drilled 
to the highest point of discipline, as a model by which to instruct the others. 
The result of all this was seen in the very next campaign, at the battle of Mon- 
mouth. Washington there rallied his men when in full retreat, and brought 
them into action under the very blaze of the enemy's guns. They wheeled like 
veteran troops into their places, and then moved steadily on the foe. 

For some time previous to his encampment at Valley Forge, Gen. 
Washington had his head-quarters at Whitemarsh, in jMontgomery 
county, (a few miles east,) a view of which is here afforded. The 



*-5S%fi^r-„, 




WASHIXGT0.\'S HEAD-QUARTERS AT WHITEMARSH. 

whole surrounding country is full of incidents connected with the 
movement of the army in this vicinity, and all have more or less 
interest to the American reader ; but we agree with the poet, that — 



64 r r - H A N D S K E T C II E s . 

The camp has had its clay of song — 

The sword, the bayonet, aud the plume, 
Have crowded out of rhyme too long 

The plough, the anvil, and the loom. 
Oh, not upon our tented fields 

Are Freedom's heroes hred alone ; 
The trainintji of the worskhoji yields 

More heroes true than war has known. 
Who drives the bolt, who shapes the steel, 

May, with a heart as valiant, smite, 
As he who sees a foeman reel 

In blood before his blow of might ! 
The skill that conquers space and time, 

That grades life, that lightens toil. 
May spring from courage more sublime 

Than that which makes a realm its spoil. 

Valley Forge contains a cotton factory, with some other minor 
manufacturing establishments, and has had a considerable accession 
to the population during the last few years. It is surrounded with a 
rich and populous agricultural district, in which are located several 
furnaces and iron works. The copper formation before alluded to 
outcrops here, and there is, besides, a considerable quantity of iron 
ore in the adjacent hills. The observatory on the summit of the hill 
was erected by Charles H. Rogers, Esq., the liberal-minded proprietor 
of the land and the cotton factory. It commands a magnificent land- 
scape scene. The beautiful valley of the Schuylkill, richly carpeted 
with greensward and soft foliage, and traversed by several streams 
whose bridges rise above the swelling harvest-fields, stretches out 
before the eye. Far ofi" the blue Kittatinny range is seen, into whose 
hazy atmosphere the picture gradually fades. The Schuylkill river, 
at the foot of the hill, winds gracefully around a broad projecting 
alluvial flat, beautifully shaded with tall trees, and fringed with wild 
bushes, very nearly in the centre of which stands the princely country 
house of Dr. Wetherill, and nearer the river the country mansion of 
John Price Wetherill, Esq. The spirit of the scene is greatly en- 
hanced by the noise of the coal trains passing over the railroad, and 
which is echoed to the surrounding hills — no less than the view 
afforded of the trains themselves, often embracing one hundred and 
thirty loaded cars, each containing between four and five tons of coal ! 
If any one desires to be impressed with the idea of stamina- -of real 



P ir (E N I X V I L L E . 65 

greatness — of enterprise — let him stand on a commanding eminence, 
and behold a coal-train, nearly half a mile in length, rumbling and 
^tearing by -with extraordinary speed ! But stand in the t^bservatory 
and drink in the -ffhole glorious scene — rich, and varied, and beautiful 
beyond description. Could unhappiness dwell amidst such plenty — 
such luxuriance — such inspiring incidents ? It ought not ; yet man 
is weak — 

Had he been made, at nature's birtli, 

Of only flame or only earth, 

Had he been formed a perfect whole 

Of purely that, or grossly this, 

Then sense would ne'er have clouded soul, 

Nor soul restrain the sense's bliss ! 

Oh, happy, had his light been strong. 

Or had he never shaved a light, 

■\Yhich shines enough to show he's wrong, 

But not enough to lead him Hyht. 

Four miles above Valley Forge, and twenty-seven from Philadel- 
phia, is the borough of Phcenixville, situated in the valley of French 
creek, at its junction witli the Schuylkill. Phcenixville is a very 
pleasant borough, containing a population of some thirty-five hun- 
dred — of whom probably eight hundred are engaged in its industrial 
establishments. Probably the first nail-works in this part of the 
country were erected here, where the creek afi"ords a fine head of 
water. After having passed through the hands of three or four dif- 
ferent parties, the works, upwards of twenty-five years ago, came 
into those of Messrs. Reeves & Whittaker. 

The present style of the firm at this place, is Reeves, Buck & Co. — 
Joseph Whittaker having retired a few years ago. His son, Dr. 
Joseph Whittaker, retains an interest however, and is one of the 
managers of the works. Joseph Whittaker lives in the stately man- 
sion directly opposite the rail-road depot, on the opposite side of the 
river. We believe he has partially retired from the more active pur- 
suits of the trade — ^merely " keeping as many irons in the fire" as is 
consistent with his old-fashioned notions of leisure. lie has some 
works, of small extent, in view of his residence, and a furnace or two 
near Easton ; while two of his sons have an establishment at Havre- 
dc-<j!race, Md. The Phccnix Company (Reeves, Buck & Co.) own 
the iron establishments at Bridgeton, and tlie nail-works at Cumber- 



66 



OFF- HAND SKETCHES. 



land, N. J., besides those at Phoenixville ; — while Mr. Reeves is the 
senior partner of the firm of Reeves, Abbot & Co., proprietors of the 
splendid railroad mill and iron works at Safe Harbor, in Lancaster 
county. The mill at that place, in connection with the one located 
here, produced all the iron used in constructing the Central Railroad ; 
and it is not the least interesting feature of that road, that its rails 
are the most substantial and reliable of any similar route in the 
United States. 




PHCENIXTILLR IKON WOniCS. 



The works at Phoenixville embrace several extensive anthracite 
furnaces, machine-shops, rolling-mills, nail and cotton factories, etc., 
among which is the splendid establishment for the production of rail- ■ 
road iron. A visit to these extensive iron-works cannot fail to prove 
highly interesting — especially the railroad mill, where some two 
hundred men are employed. We shall describe the whole process of 
iron manufacture in connection with the trade of the Juniata, and 
beg leave to refer the reader to our book on the Central Railroad 
route for information on this subject. 

A railroad from this place to Ilarrisburg, via Ephrata and Cornwall, 
and traversing the valley of French creek, is now being surveyed. The 
road will connect with the Reading railroad, and the Norristown Rail- 
road below. That the enterprise will prove successful, there can be little 



PHCENIXVILLE. 67 

doubt ; as, in addition to the local trade of the route, it will probably 
become the favorite thoroughfare of travel to the West, and thus 
strip the State railroa.d of one of its most important resources. 
However, the business of the interior is increasing With such ra- 
pidity, that there will soon be enough for both railroads. This 
route will be the shortest, as well as the most attractive for trav- 
ellers, and for that reason, will be preferred. It never can do much 
business in the transportation of coal, because the route cannot afford 
sufficient gravitation to carry the extraordinary loads so peculiar to 
the Reading railroad. This feature of the Reading railroad renders 
it, in respect to the transportation of coal, the most wonderful im- 
provement of the age. 

There are several very good schools and academies in the vicinity 
of Phoenixville, and it is worthy of remark that while Chester and 
some of the adjoining counties are celebrated for the number and 
excellence of their seminaries of learning, a large portion of their 
support is derived from the Southern States. These counties are 
nearly all under the influence of the peculiar social and religious 
tenets of the Quakers, and though their political sentiments are some- 
times contaminated with sectionalism — the ghastly monster that is 
now gnawing the vitals of our Nationality— yet, in their social and 
moral deportment, there is everything to admire. Intellio-ent and 
educated themselves, their benevolence of character, rigid discipline, 
and simplicity of manner, added to their known frugality, industry, 
and peaceful habits — give them peculiar qualities for the 



Delightful task ! to rear the tender thought, 
To teach the young idea how to shoot, 
To pour the fresh instruction in the mind, 
To breathe the enlivening spirit, and to fix 
The generous purpose in the glowing breast. 
Oh speak the joy ! ye, whom the sudden tear 
Surprises often, while ye look around. 
And nothing strikes your eye but sights of bliss, 
AH various nature pressing on the heart; 
An elegant sufficiency, content, 
Retirement, rural quiet, friendship, books. 
Ease and alternate labor, useful life, 
Progressive virtue, and approving Heaven ! 



68 OrP-HANDSKETClIES. 

The Chester or Yellow Springs are situated but a few miles from 
Phocnixville, and are approached by mail stages. This watering- 
place formerly enjoyed a high celebrity, and is still visited to some 
extent ; but numerous similar establishments, springing up in every 
part of the country, have no doubt materially diminished its ancient 
attractions. 

But it is time to leave this busy and pleasant village — pleasant to 
us with many recollections of the past — dear, as the residence of one 
of our most esteemed friends, " whose life is gentle," and, like lord 
Brutus, " the elements so mixed in him, that all Nature might stand 
up, and say, with a universal voice, this is a man!" But there are 
others — one of them a distinguished Poet and Traveller, who, even 
now, is traversing the broad desert plains, amidst the scorching climes 
of Asia — prominently associated with our " recollections" of Phoe- 
nixville. It was here that Bayard Taylor, while editor of the village 
paper, laid a portion of the broad and substantial foundation which 
is to support his present and his future fame. The beautiful valley 
stream, we are sure, will always retain a snug place in his memory ; 
sporting on its clear, calm surface, with a cluster of admiring friends, 
the bright evenings were made musical. Rowing " by the light of 
the moon," 

Our oars kept time, and our voices kept tune ! 

After a considerable voyage, during which the poet would enter- 
tain us with incidents of his unpublished "travel's history," — inter- 
spersed with the jokes, criticisms, and gossips of others of the adven- 
turous party — we would reach the "head of navigation" and land 
upon the green sloping banks, which are sprinkled with gay wild 
flowers, and shaded with tall majestic trees. Here the perfume of 
the well-tilled harvest fields, borne along in the cool evening breeze, 
saluted the grateful senses ; and then, with one accord, all would 
plunge into the stream, 

Whose crystal depth 
A sandy bottom shows, 

and lave its pure bright waters until, late in the evening, and fa- 
tigued with the labors of the expedition, we sought 

Tired nature's sweet restorer — 
Balmy sleep. 



P II a: N I X V I L L E TUNNEL. 



69 



Thus flew the happy, merry summer evenings when Taylor was a 
village editor, and when the fair prospect of a future glorious career 
was budding, and gradually opening out before him. Success to thee, 
poet ! — thou more than poet — soaring eagle ! — hail ! 

Proceeding on our tour, we pass through a tunnel, a short distance 
iibove Phocnixville, which is over 2000 feet in length. It is cut 
through a solid dark-red sandstone rock, and is probably one of the 




TUNNEL AND BRIDGE ABOVE PnffiNIXTILLE. 

heaviest sections of railroading ever executed in the United States, 
as, in fixct, the entire road may bo regarded as one of the most ex- 
traordinary, in many respects, in the world. Emerging from the 
tunnel, and crossing the splendid and substantial stone-arched bridge, 
the scenery is entirely changed. Here the eager eye may take in a 
glorious landscape. The Schuylkill, winding around the projecting 
hill through which we have passed, describes a half-circle in a dis- 
tance of little more than a mile. As far as the eye can see, a broad 
and luxuriant valley, lying between gently sloping hills, stretches 
out, through which wanders the river. The scene is rich in its de- 
velopment of agricultural fertility, and the green fields sparkle with 
the neat and comfortable habitations of the farmer. 

From the moist meadow to the withered hill, 
Led by the breeze, the vivid verdure runs, 
And swells, and deepens, to the cherished eye. 
The hawthorn whitens ; and the spicy groves 
Put forth their buds, unfolding, by degrees, 
Till the whole leafy forest stands displayed, 
In full luxuriance, to the sighing gales. 



70 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 




LANDSCAPE. 



Passing the stations of Royer's Ford, 32m. and Limerick, 34m. 
we reach the borough of Pottstown, forty miles from Philadelphia. 
It is very pleasantly situated, in a rich undulating country, on the 
right bank of the Schuylkill. The houses, which are generally plain 
but comfortable, are built principally upon one broad street, lying 
above the railroad, and lined with numerous gardens and shade-trees. 
The scenery of the country is very fine, but has nothing of the bold- 
ness mingled with it which characterizes some other spots along this 
river. The valley is here equally as fertile as it is below, and the 
Manatawny creek, crossed by a romantic looking old stone bridge, 
and emptying into the Schuylkill, furnishes the driving-power of 
several extensive flour and saw-mills. The Schuylkill navigation 
passes along on the opposite side of the river. 

Pottstown derives its name from John Potts, who held a larse 
tract of land in this quarter, including that upon which lies the town. 
West of it, beyond the Manatawny, is a stately but unique stone 
mansion, commanding a view of the valley, which was erected by him 
before the revolution. It was at that time the admiration of the 
people, and they came from a great distance around to look at it ! 
Mr. Potts was an enterprising speculator in iron-works, and had an 
establishment in each of the adjoining counties of Chester and Berks. 



POTTSTOWN. 71 

He was a descendant of Thomas Potts, who early settled at Burling- 
ton, N. J., and was the ftxther of Isaac Potts, who erected the iron- 
works at Valley Forge, from which that place derives its name. His 
son, Isaac, was at that time sole owner of the land where Pottsville 
now stands, but sold it long before it Avas known to contain coal. 
This tract afterwards came into the hands of a German named Potts, 
some of whose descendants still reside there, and we may probably 
allude to them again, in speaking of the coal formation, and the 
trade which it has originated. The population of Pottstown may be 
estimated at two thousand. There are several quite handsome 
churches, two large boarding schools, &c. The machine shop, and 
car factory, belonging to the company, are quite prominent and im- 
posing buildings. 

The extensive copper formation already spoken of, has several 
outcrops near this borough, where mining operations were prosecuted 
several years ago. The ore, however, was not rich enough to justify 
the continuance of the enterprize. We ai-e not sure whether the ore 
proved deficient in quality, or whether the difficulties of mining it 
were too great and expensive to pay. Operations have, however, 
been discontinued for the present. 

After leaving Pottstown, we soon enter the county of Berks — a 
rich and populous county, originally settled by Germans, and stiU 
more or less under the influence of its primitive characteristics. The 
general aspect and quality of the soil is rich, and its fertility is 
maintained, in the absence of scientific principles elsewhere called 
to aid, solely by hard labor. The first lesson (and often the only 
lesson) a Berks county farmer teaches his children, is upon the sub- 
ject of labor, accompanied always with practical illustrations. The 
philosophy of the " shovel and de hoe," the plough, the harrow, and 
the team, is thoroughly expounded. It is no uncommon sight to see 
the father in the field plowing, with a little boy, scarcely able to 
walk, sitting on the horse, with a whip ; while it is equally as com- 
mon to see boys of fourteen guiding the plough, and turning over as 
pretty and graceful a furi'ow as could be desired. The old princi- 
ples of cultivation are thus inculcated and handed down from father 
to son ; and education — scholastic, social, or moral — has thus far had 
very little influence upon them. Like their fathers, they neither read 
nor travel — but believe in religion, democracy, and General Jackson. 

An anecdote is recorded of two Berks county farmers, which ex- 



{2 OFP-HxVNDS KETCHES. 

hibits the awkward simplicity of their business transactions. The 
individuals were neighbors, and frequently borrowed small sums of 
money from each other, which was promptly paid back at the specified 
time. They lived thus for many years, and both prospered by their 
indeftitigable industry. At length one of them was compelled to 
provide himself with a new and larger barn, and as his " available" 
means did not quite suffice, he concluded to call on his old neighbor 
for the balance. His request was promptly complied with, and, after 
the money had been paid over, it was prudently suggested by the 
borrower himself that a promissory note should be received, " so as 
dat ho might know dat de money must be baid." The note was 
drawn, whether payable to the bearer or not, we do not know — but it 
was mutually concluded that, as he had received the money, and was 
to return it at the specified time, he was the proper person to take 
charge of the note, which he did ! — thus reversing the usual order 
of things. Time flew round, and, promptly at the time specified, 
the borrowed money was restored, and with it the note, so " dat de 
lender might know as dat the money haf been baid \" 

Douglassville, 44J m. and Birdsboro', 49 m. are two unimportant 
stations on the road. 

Between Pottstown and Reading, there are several very pretty 
landscape scenes, which the observant traveller will not fail to 
notice. When within a mile or two of the latter place, the railroad 
winds along upon the side of a high precipitous hill, and penetrating a 
stratum of hard rock, irregular fragments of which are left standing 
by the side of the road, in bold and craggy peaks. Below the rail- 
road, in almost perpendicular descent, flows the Schuylkill, which 
gracefully winds round a projecting mound of land on the opposite 
side, and reflects, in its clear and unrufiied surface, the dark moss- 
covered rocks and wild bushes overhanging its banks. Winding 
swiftly around this mountain spur, we emerge into a wide valley or 
basin, hemmed in with high and sloping mountains, at the foot of 
which the city of Reading is situated. The city is a beautiful and 
healthy place, and has long been the retreat of strangers and trav- 
ellers during the summer months. During the revolution, while the 
city of Philadelphia was constantly intimidated with sudden incur- 
sions from the enemy, Reading was the principal place of resort and 
refuge. Here some of the most distinguished citizens of the com- 
monwealth temporarily established themselves. The effect of their 




T 



"III 



jiiiiminLllll 

-I, . 
■ :i 
'li 



'|lill!lli!lll!'lil"'llllllllilllllrjglll;iiililiil''i 



READING 



75 




HAILROAD CtrnVATURE NEAR READING. 



presence and socical intercourse with the citizens, was subsequently 
felt upon the society and general tone of the place, which is now, 
indeed, noted for its substantial, liberal, and comprehensive spirit, no 
less than the social good feeling, hospitality, and intelligence of its 
citizens, individually; for while the people of the county cannot 
generally be complimented for their intelligence, it must not bo 
inferred that Reading is included with them. Nothing would be 
more unjust — for while it is true that the people are somewhat influ- 
enced by the tone of the country sentiment, it is equally true that the 
latter is also very much directed by the city ; so that, considering 
their mutual dependency, and the equilibrium existing between them, 
it is owing principally to the popular sentiment of Reading that the 
people of the county have progressed, as far as they have, in educa- 
tion and the usages of modern society. 

Reading possesses, to a very remarkable extent, all the requisites 
for groat industrial enterprise. The agricultural resources of the 



f 



76 OFF- HANDS KETCHES. 

county — of which it is the judicial seat — are truly enormous. The 
soil is drained by numerous streams of large volume, which, following 
the narrow alluvial valleys intervening between the mountain ranges, 
afford water-power of unlimited extent, and applicable to every 
description of manufacture- Iron ore,' of various qualities, abounds 
throughout the whole county, and there are several rich deposits in 
the vicinity of Reading. The calcareous conglomerate, previously 
alluded to as appearing in the red shale deposits along the Mine Ridge 
and Blue Mountain ranges, in this county lies near the Schuylkill, 
in the vicinity of Reading. It is known as the " Potomac marble," 
and when not too hard to polish, must be considered as very valuable. 
Copper ore also occurs at several points, but generally in such small 
quantity, and so mixed with iron, as to render the expediency of 
working it rather doubtful. But what is most important to this city, 
and which has given it, within the last few years, an impulse of great 
industrial vigor, is the coal trade, from whose beds it is distant thirty- 
six miles. Added to this, is its accessibility, by canal, to the Susque- 
hanna, and by both railroad and canal to Philadelphia and Potts- 
ville, giving it a commanding interior position, which must ultimately 
be used to its great and permanent benefit. 

The Union Canal, which unites with the Schuylkill Navigation at Reading, 
was the first canal route ever surveyed in this country, and a brief notice of 
some of the persons and circumstances associated with it, will probably not be 
without interest. George W. Smith, fisq., in an article first published in 
Hazard's Eegister, says that William Penn, in his proposals for a second settle- 
ment in the province of Pennsylvania, promulgated in 1690, alludes to the 
practicability of effecting a communication by water between the Susquehanna 
and the Schuylkill. Canals and turnpikes were unknown at this period, even 
in Great Britain. Numerous interesting letters of distinguished citizens are 
extant, which prove that the Union is indebted to this State for the first intro- 
duction of canals and turnpikes to public attention. Their views were regarded 
at that early period, (1750 to 17G0) with but little interest in England, and 
excited the attention of but few in the colonies. At the present day it is diffi- 
cult to determine to whom we are chiefly indebted for introducing the subject 
to public attention. If our information be correct, we may attribute to David 
Rittenhouse (the astronomer), and Dr. AVm. Smith, provost of the University 
of Pennsylvania, the credit of being the first laborers in this hitherto untrodden 
field. Afterwards Robert Morris, the financier of the Revolution, and still 
later Robert Fulton, the engineer, and inventor of steamboats, of whom Penn- 
sylvania is justly proud, lent their powerful assistance. The writings of Turner, 



THEUNIONCANAL. 77 

Comae, Win. J. Duane, and Samuel Breck, Esqrs., and subsequently of Gcraru 
Rallston, Richard Peters, Jr., Matthew Carey, Samuel Mifflin, Wm. Lehman, 
John Sergeant, and others, are too well known to require enumeration. In 
1762, David Kittenhouse, (and Dr. Smith, above mentioned^ associated with 
him,) surveyed and levelled a route for a canal to connect the Susquehanna 
with the Schuylkill, by means of the Swatara and Tulpehocken creeks — the 
former emptying into the Susquehanna at Middletown, twelve miles below 
Harrisburg, and the latter emptying into the Schuylkill near Reading. The 
Union canal, which has since accomplished this object, passes over a portion 
of the route thus surveyed — and this is the first region ever surveyed in the 
colonies for a canal. The views of the projectors of this work were, if the diffi- 
culties of that period be duly considered, far more gigantic and surprising than 
have been entertained by their successors in any part of the Union. They con- 
templated nothing less than a junction of the eastern and western waters of 
.Lake Erie and of the Ohio with the Delaware, on a route extending 582 miles ! 
The Alleghany mountain was deemed to olFer an insuperable obstacle to a con- 
tinuous navigation — and to overcome this a portage was accordingly recom- 
mended; — an expedient which we, at a very recent period, were compelled to 
adopt, but which now, in the full era of steam locomotion, will soon be proudly 
overcome by our iron horses. 

Duly to appreciate the enterprise of that age, we ought to consider that the 
great valley of the Ohio and Mississippi was almost one boundless forest, unin- 
habited but by the beasts of the forest, and the Indians. Attainable monied 
capital was then almost unknown in the colonics ; the very term " engineering" 
was equally unknown in the vocabulary of those days. No canal was then in 
existence in England. Public opinion, even then, had yet to learn that canals 
were not visionary undertakings. The sneers of many were to be encountered; 
nevertheless, under all these trying discouragements, the earliest advocates for 
inland navigation commenced their efforts in Pennsylvania. In 1769 they 
induced the American Philosophical Societj' to order a survey for a canal to 
connect the Chesapeake bay with the Delaware — a work long since in successful 
operation. The provincial legislature, about the same period, authorized a sur- 
vey of a route, extending five hundred and eighty-two miles, to Pittsburg and 
Erie. This survey was performed, and a report made strongly recommending 
the execution of the project. The adoption of the plan was only postponed in 
consequence of the Revolution. After the termination of that struggle, several 
works were commenced in North Carolina, Virginia, and Maryland. The canal 
through the Dismal Swamp, connecting the Chesapeake bay and Albemarle 
Sound, with the works on the Potomac, James, and Rappahannock rivers, were 
commenced and partially finished between the years 17S6 and 1791. The great 
project of Pennsylvania was allowed to slumber until the 29th of September, 
1791, about a century after William Penn's first prophetic intimation, when the 
Legislature incorporated a company to connect the Susquehanna and Schuylkill 
bv a canal and slack-water navigation. Robert Morris, David Rittenhouse, Wm. 

7* 



78 OFF-HANDSKETCHES. 

Smith and others, were named as commissioners. The intention of connecting 
the eastern and northwestern parts of the State is distinctly expressed in this, 
and a subsequent act of the 10th of April, 1792. By the terms of this last act a 
company was incorporated to effect a junction of the Delaware with the Schuyl- 
kill river, by a canal extending from Norristown to Philadelphia — a distance of 
seventeen miles, which has already been alluded to. The Schuylkill river, from 
the former city to Reading, was to be tempm-anly improved, and thus form, with 
the works of the Susquehanna and Schuylkill Company, an uninterrupted water 
communication with the interior of the State ; with the intention of extending 
the chain to Lake Erie and the Ohio river. Experience soon convinced the two 
companies that a greater length of canal was requisite, in consequence of the 
difiSculties of improving the channels of the rivers; hence the company last 
mentioned determined (in compliance with the suggestions of Mr. Weston, a 
British engineer, whom they had imported,) to extend thei?- canal from river to 
river, a distance of seventy miles. In conjunction with the former company^ 
they nearly completed fifteen miles of the most difficult parts of the two works, 
comprising much rock excavation, heavy embankments, deep cuttings, and 
several locks, which were constructed with bricks. In consequence of com- 
mercial difficulties, (in which, it is known, some of the chief stockholders were 
shortly after involved — including the patriot, Morris, who was, in fact, on one 
occasion, imprisoned for debt !) both companies were compelled to suspend 
their operations, after having expended upwards of $450,000. The suspension 
of these works, and, some time after, that of the Chesapeake and Delaware 
Canal, had a very disastrous effect on every similar enterprise which was pro- 
jected for many years after. 

Frequent abortive attempts were made, from the year 1795, to resume opera- 
tions ; and notwithstanding the subscription of $300,000 stock, subsequently 
tendered by the State, these companies continued in a languishing condition. 
In 1811 the two bodies were united, and re-organized as the Union Canal 
Company, which has ever since been the style of the company. They were 
specially authorized to extend their canal from Philadelphia to Lake Erie, 
with the privilege of making such further extension, in any other part of the 
State, as they might deem expedient. In 1819 and 1821 the State granted 
further aid by a guarantee of interest, and a monopoly of the lottery privilege. 
The additional subscriptions obtained in consequence of this legislative enact- 
ment, enabled the managers to resume operations in 1821. The line was 
re-located, the dimensions of the canal changed, and the whole work finished in 
about six years from this period ; after thirty-seven years had elapsed from the 
date of the first work, and sixty-five from the date of the first survey. It is 
ninety miles in length, including the branch extending to the coal region at 
Pine Grove, in Schuylkill county. That portion between Pine Grove and Mid- 
dletown, was enlarged in 1851, and is now equal to the capacity of boats run- 
ning on the State canals ; but the other section can pass boats of twenty-five 
tons only. The summit of this canal, about six miles in length, passes over a 



THE SCHUYLKILL NAVIGATION. 79 

limestone deposit, and in consequence of the fissures abounding in this rock, a 
larn-e portion of the water was lost. A number of experiments were tried to 
overcome this loss, such as lining it with clay, planking, &c. The difficulty 
was, we believe, entirely remedied on the occasion of its enlargement, last year, 
and the work may hereafter be regarded as complete in all its arrangements and 
in all the details of its construction, while the coal trade alone will probably soon 
make it a paying. concern. 

The SchuyUcill Navigation, already alluded to in connection with the Union 
Canal, was incorporated as a separate and distinct concern in 1814, without 
mining and trading privileges, and hence it has ever been the interest of the 
company to invite tonnage from all sources, and in every quarter. It was origi- 
nally designed for the products of the forest, the field, and the mine— all of 
which abounded in the counties drained by the river and its numerous tributary 
streams. The forests, especially, were at that period remarkable for the quality 
of their timber, and the height and symmetrical proportions of the trees ; and, 
among intelligent and sagacious men, little doubt was entertained of the future 
importance of the coal trade, then without any existence whatever. 

The Schuylkill Navigation is one hundred and eight miles in length, extend- 
ing from Philadelphia to Port Carbon, in Schuylkill county. It was erected at 
a cost of nearly three millions of dollars. It was sufficiently complete, in 181S, 
to allow the descent of several boats, and tolls to the amount of two hundred 
and thirty dollars comprised the receipts for the season. From this year to 
1825, no account was kept of the different articles for which tolls were received, 
and w^ are unable, therefore, to determine the amount of tonnage on coal de- 
scending the valley during this period. The Navigation, however, owing to 
the imperfection of the structure, was not in a favorable condition for the pro- 
secution of business during any portion of this period. This arose from the 
obvious inexperience of the people of that day in canal-building : and obstruc- 
tions of every description were of course to be expected. Of these, the most 
frequent were breaks in the banks of the canal, which would not only retard 
rhe progress of boats, and render the business extremely hazardous and un- 
certain, but subjected the Company to heavy expenses for repairs. The revenue 
to the stockholders was of course very limited ; and at no season, we believe, 
previous to 1830, was it sufficient to yield a dividend of over one-half per cent. 
— while quite as often a loss would be experienced at the close of the business 
season. 

A few years afterwards, however, (1830,) when the coal trade began to assume 
some importance, the stock of the Navigation yielded very handsome dividends, 
;md continued annually to do so, until it encountered a formidable rival in tlie 
railroad, which was extended to Pottsville in 1842. From this period, the coal 
trade became immensely important, and the canal company determined, in 1846, 
to deepen the channel, and otherwise enlarge and improve their works. The 
canal was sufficiently enlarged to float boats of 180 tons burthen, while the 



80 OFF- 11 AND SKETCHES. 

number of locks was reduced from 109 to 71 — eleven of which are guard locks 
without lift, of which the gates generally stand open, and are, in fact, closed 
only during freshets. The average time of passing a lock with a boat is about 
four minutes, at which rate all the locks on the canal could be passed in about 
five hours; or, making a reasonable allowance, six hours would give ample time 
to overcome the total descent of 620 feet— and if, at every lock, a descending 
boat should meet an ascending one, the whole time lost in effecting the cross 
passage does not exceed twelve hours. This is an immense improvement over the 
old navigation. 

Above the Blue Mountain nearly all the canals are almost equal in width to 
the slack-water pools formed by the dams. Below the Blue Mountain, the 
water line of the canal, which is never less than sixty feet, widens frequently t« 
one hundred feet and more. Taking these things in connection with the fact, 
that about half the length of the navigation consists of wide slackwater pools, 
and it will be observed that in point of width everything practically desirable 
has been attained. 

Several attempts have been made to introduce steam in the navigation of the 
Schuylkill, — and though apparently attended with some success, have not led 
to any practical end, as yet. The only steamboats now plying on its waters, 
are those between Fairmount and Manayunk. If coal could be used for fuel — 
(of which, by the way, there can be no doubt,) and the machinery made sufii- 
ciently light to correspond with the tonnage of the boat, there would, indeed, 
seem to be no practical reason why steam should not supersede hoi'ses. The 
splashing of the water against the banks of the canal, occasioned by the evolu- 
tions of the paddle-wheel, presents the most potent objection ; — yet this is but 
a trifle, and might readily be overcome, if sufficient attention were bestowed 
upon the subject. We look forward to the day, when Prof. Page's brilliant ex- 
periments in electro-magnetism will find practical application in the ordinary 
pursuits of life. His electric engine already possesses eight-horse power ; and, 
inasmuch as the entire machinery consists of but a single wheel, or iron circle, 
this would be the exact thing to introduce for the propulsion of canal boats. 
The whole weight of an electric engine of sufficient capacity to propel^ie canal 
boats, together with the fuel, for twenty days, would not, probably, exceed three 
hundred pounds ! 

The entire length of the Navigation, as previously remarked, is lOS miles — 
its lockage 620 feet — the burden of its boats 180 tons — the size of its locks, 110 
by 18 feet — the width of its canals, never less than 60 feet — and the least 
depth of water upon the mitre sills 53^, and in the clear levels 6 feet. 

The five leading railroads, and their laterals, to the Schuylkill Navigation 
and the Reading Railroad, are the Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven, terminatinf 
at Schuylkill Haven ; the Mount Carbon, terminating at Mount Carbon ; the 
Mill Creek, terminating at Port Carbon, and the Schuylkill Vallej-, terminatini; 
at Mount Carbon. 

At Schuylkill Haven a very fine dock, nine hundred feet long, sixty feet wide, 



THE READING RAILROAD. 81 

and six feet deep, with its rail seventeen feet high above water, shute and land- 
ings on both sides, has been constructed by Mr. Dundas. This dock alone is 
capable of shipping, in an active season's work, at least two hundred and fifty 
~ thousand tons of coal, and is leased by the Navigation Company. 

At Port Carbon, the Navigation Company have constructed an extensive series 
of landings. A part of these landings below the Mill Creek Railroad bridge, 
consists of a dock, about nine hundred feet long, sixty feet wide, and six feet 
deep, with its rail elevated eighteen feet above water, with shutcs and landings 
on both sides. There is room at this landing for thirty boats of one hundred 
and eighty tons burden to load at once, and it is capable of shipping five hundred 
thousand tons of coal per annum. 

In the pool of dam No. 1, the company have erected sis new landings, with 
their rails elevated sixteen feet above the water, and so arranged that six large 
boats may load at once, without interruption. In addition to these, and also in 
the upper dam, the Navigation Company have leased and fitted up the long 
dock, which accommodates six large boats at the same time. Thus, the Com- 
pany have a variety of fine landings to ship coal coming from the Schuylkill 
Valley and Mill Creek Railroads, and capable together of shipping near seven 
hundred thousand tons in a season's work. 

In addition to the foregoing, the Company have constructed a dock and land- 
ings at Mount Carbon, similar to the Firth Dock at Port Carbon, and of about 
the same capacity. "We shall probably again refer to these landings when 
speaking of the coal trade. 

To guard against the danger of a deficiency of water, to which the Naviga- 
tion is exposed in dry seasons, they have erected several large dams upon tribu- 
tary streams at the head of navigation, from which to draw supplies in cases of 
deficiency. The dam at Silver creek covers nearly sixty acres, and contains 
about forty million cubic feet of water, which is estimated to be capable, of it- 
self, of floating about one hundred and twenty thousand tons of coal annually I 

The Keading Railroad, of which we now propose to give a brief 
description, was chartered on the 4th of April, 1833, and surveys 
were made the same year, and forty-one miles placed under contract 
and construction a year afterwards. The charter authorized sub- 
scriptions to the amount of twenty thousand shares, of fifty dollars 
each, being a capital of one million dollars, with the right to double 
it, if found necessary. It provided for an annual meeting on the 
second Monday in January, and the right of stockholders to cast one 
vote for every share, not exceeding two ; one vote for every two shares 
not exceeding ten ; and one vote for every five, for any amount above 
ten, that may belong to them in their own right or as trustees. Prox- 
ies to be dated within six months, and only to be used for purposes 

L 



82 OFP-HANDSKETCHES. 

expressly stated. No blank proxy to be good, and no third person to 
be substituted. The government of the road is vested in a President 
and six Managers, vyho are authorized to make By-laws and all needr 
ful regulations, subject to the approval of the stockholders at their 
annual meeting. The President and Managers have full power to 
manage and operate the road. Special meetings may be called, but 
no business can be done without a majority in interest of the stock 
is represented. No dividend to be declared except from the net profits, 
so that the capital shall remain unimpaired. The charter is per- 
petual. 

It was originally designed for its present purpose, an outlet or 
avenue to market for the Schuylkill Coal Region ; but its first charter 
extended only to the city of Reading, fifty-nine miles from its terminus 
on the Delaware River, near Philadelphia, as the right of constructing 
a railroad between Reading and Port Clinton, twenty miles, had 
already been granted another corporation, the Little Schuylkill Rail- 
road Company, extending from Tamaqua to Port Clinton, twenty 
miles. From insufficient means, this company was unable to ex- 
tend their road, and yielded their right and charter to the Reading 
Railroad Company, who, with a further extension of their charter, 
beyond Port Clinton to Pottsville, went into an active prosecution of 
the whole work, from Pottsville to the Delaware, ninety-four miles, 
under one charter, now known as the Reading Railroad. 

Every Pennsylvanian is familiar with the great embarrassment's to 
the business of the country, checking commercial enterprise, dis- 
astrous to every branch of industry, and fatal to public and private 
credit, during the period from 1833 to 1842. Notwithstanding all these 
difficulties, the friends of this road pushed steadily on with its con- 
struction, taxing their energies, their means and their credit to the 
utmost, to insure its speedy completion ; and on the first day of 1842, 
the first locomotive and train passed over the whole line between 
Pottsville and Philadelphia, 

The event was celebrated with military display, and an immense 
procession of (seventy-five) passenger cars, twelve hundred and twenty- 
five feet in length, containing two thousand one hundred and fifty 
persons, three bands of music, banners, &c., all drawn by a single 
engine ! In the rear was a train of fifty-two burden cars, loaded 
with one hundred and eighty tons of coal, part of which was mined 
the same morning four hundred and twelve feet below the water level. 



TIIEREADINGRAILROAD. 83 

The whole was under the charge of Mr. Robinson, chief engineer, 
and Mr. G. A. Nichols, superintendent. The entire capital invested 
up to this time, including all its vast real estate, locomotives, work- 
shops, wharves, etc., amount to over sixteen millions of dollars. 

From that date to the present, its business, its revenue and its 
credit have increased, in a degree scarcely paralleled by any similar 
improvement, until its tonnage and its receipts are measured, as at 
present, by millions. 

Two continuous tracks of railway extend the whole distance of 
ninety-four miles, from Pottsville to the Delaware river, at Port 
Richmond — situated three miles above the heart of the city, and one 
hundred and four from the sea, while a branch road extends from 
the Falls of the Schuylkill via Fairmount, to Broad street, in the 
city. This portion of the road formerly belonged to the State — but 
upon the completion of the road to avoid the inclined plane, the canal 
commissioners sold this section to the Reading Railroad company, 
who, with characteristic enterprise, put it into immediate repair, and 
laid down upon it a strong and substantial rail. They also materi- 
ally strengthened and otherwise improved the railroad bridge across 
the Schuylkill, so that, instead of awaiting the slow process of being 
hauled over Avith horses, the passenger trains are drawn over by loco- 
motives without delay or hindrance. This branch of the road is used 
altogether for the coal and miscellaneous trade of the city, including 
passengers. 

The rail used on this road is of the H pattern, with both top edges 
alike, and weighs forty-five and one-eighth, fifty-two and one-half 
and sixty pounds to the yard ; the lightest having been first, and the 
heaviest last used. A few tons of other rails, purchased before a 
further supply of the pattern adopted for the road could be obtained 
in England, and varying from fifty-one to fifty-seven pounds per yard, 
are also in use. 

The track is laid in the most simple manner, the lower web or base 
of the rail being notched into white oak cross sills, seven by eight 
inches in thickness, and these laid on broken stone, fourteen inches 
deep, and well rammed. This method is found admirably calculated 
for the enormous tonnage of the road, being rapidly and economically 
repaired and replaced, securing a thorough drainage, and preserving 
its line and level true, at all seasons of the year. 

The grades of this road are the chief elements of its success in 



84 OFF-HANDSKETCHES. 

revolutionizing public opinion, on the subject of the carriage of heavy 
burdens by railway. From the most important branch Coal-feeder 
of the road, at Schuylkill Haven, to the Falls of Schuylkill, a distance 
of eighty-four miles, the grades all descend in the direction of the 
loaded trains, or are level, with no more abrupt descent than nineteen 
feet per mile. At the Falls, an assistant locomotive engine of great 
power pushes the train, without the latter stopping, or any delay, up 
a grade of forty-two and one-half feet per mile, for one mile and a 
quarter, thus placing it on a descending grade, within four miles of 
Richmond, whither it is readily conveyed by the same engine which 
started from Pottsville, never leaving the train. 

The bridges on this line are of great variety in plan, and material 
of construction ; stone, iron and wood being used. The most perfect 
and beautiful structure on the road, if not in the State, is a stone 
bridge across the Schuylkill near Phocnixville, built of cut stone 
throughout, with four circular arches, of seventy-two feet span, and 
sixteen and one-half feet rise each, at, a cost with ice-breakers, of 
$47,000. (See engraving — page 69.) There are seventy-five other 
stone bridges and culverts, varying from six to fifty feet span ; all of 
circular arcs, spanning water courses, branches of the Schuylkill and 
roads. There are seven bridges from twenty-five to thirty-eight feet 
span each, built of iron, trussed after the Howe plan, with wrought 
iron top and bottom cords, wrought iron vertical ties, and cast iron 
diagonal braces. These bridges are stiff and light, and present a 
very neat and handsome appearance. As, however, the flooring is 
of wood, and therefore liable to decay and accident, they have only 
been used where the width and depth rendered stone bridges imprac- 
ticable ; the latter being always used in replacing wooden structures, 
wherever it is practicable. There are twenty long wooden bridges, 
varying from forty-one to one hundred and sixty feet span, built on 
various principles, chiefly of lattice work, assisted by heavy arch 
pieces. Of this latter description, the bridge over the Schuylkill at 
the Falls is a fine specimen. It is six hundred and thirty-six feet 
long, consisting of four spans of one hundred and thirty-four, two of 
one hundred and fifty-two, and one of one hundred and sixty feet 
over the river. There is one bridge built on Burr's plan, with 
double arch pieces of one hundred and forty-nine feet span ; and one 
on Howe's plan, one hundred and fifty-six feet span, also assisted 
by arch pieces. Besides the above, there are about twenty wooden 



THE READING RAILROAD. 85 

bridges of short spans, from fourteen to thirty feet, built of King 
post, Queeu post, Bowe's truss, and joists. There are also several 
small iron and -wooden bridges. 

There are four tunnels on the road. The longest df these is near 
Phoenixville, one thousand nine hundred and thirty-four feet 
cut through solid rock, worked from five shafts and two end breasts ; 
deepest shaft one hundred and forty feet ; size of tunnels, nineteen 
feet wide, by seventeen and one-quarter high ; total cost, $153,000. 
Another tunnel at Port Clinton, is one thousand six hundred feet 
long, worked from the two ends only ; material, loose and solid rock 
mixed ; one thousand three hundred feet are arched ; depth below 
the surface of the ground, one hundred and nineteen feet ; total cost 
$138,000. The Manayunk tunnel is nine hundred and sixty feet 
long, through very hard solid rock, worked from two ends ; depth 
below surface, ninety-five feet ; total cost $10,000. Another tunnel 
under the grade of the Norristown Railroad, and through an embank- 
ment of the latter, is one hundred and seventy-two feet long, formed 
of a brick arch, with cut stone fagades. 

The depots on this road are all substantially built, but with a view 
to use, rather than ornament. At Schuylkill Haven, four miles from 
Pottsville, is erected a spacious engine house, round, with a semi- 
circular dome roof, one hundred and twenty feet diameter, and ninety- 
sis feet high ; with a forty feet turning platform in the centre, and 
tracks radiating therefrom, capable of housing sixteen second class 
engines and tenders. The principal depots for making up the coal 
trains are at Mount Carbon, Palo Alto, (situate on the Schuylkill, 
about one mile, in an angle, from Pottsville and Mount Carbon ;) 
Schuylkill Haven, and Port Clinton. At all of these places, there is 
extensive side-railway to arrange the cars in trains, as they arrive 
from the numerous branch roads. Sometimes upward of one hun- 
dred and fifty loaded cars are attached to a single locomotive, which, 
at five tons to each car, gives an aggregate tonnage of seven hundred 
and fifty tons ! No other road in the world can do this ! 

At Reading are located the most extensive and efficient workshops 
and railroad buildings of every description to be found in the coun- 
try. The company's property covers, altogether, besides the railway 
tracks, some thirty-six acres, the greater part of which is in use for 
the various occupations required to keep this vast thoroughfare in 
life and active motion. These shops embrace various departments, in 
8 



86 OFF-IIANDSKETCHES. 

•which every description of mechanical work required for the ma- 
chinery of the road, can be supplied. A description of the dimen- 
sions of the several buildings is probably unnecessary — the reader 
■will be good enough to take our assurance that they are large, very 
large, enormously large, and, in point of interest and extent, are 
second to no iron establishment in the United States. About four 
hundred hands (including men and boys) are employed in the estab- 
lishment, which embraces an iron foundry and machine shop, brass 
foundry and machine shop, carpenter's shops, furnaces, smiths, and 
various other subordinate shops. In short, the establishment builds 
and repairs all the running-machinery of the road, as locomotives, 
cars, tenders, smoke pipes, etc., for which purpose all its waste scrap 
iron is consumed, being remelted and puddled, and thereby a great 
saving is effected, probably equivalent to some fifty thousand dollars 
per annum, besides the accommodation and perfect adaptation of the 
machinery to the road, which it affords. We do not know the items 
of cost of this establishment ; but it must be regarded as one of the 
company's most valuable features, and it is now in complete and suc- 
cessful organization. To arrange the vast details of this road required 
many years of patient and persevering toil ; and no words can ex- 
press too strong a compliment upon the business talents of those per- 
sons under whose auspices it has finally attained its present admirable 
working condition. 

For many years the company have been extremely anxious to in- 
troduce anthracite coal, instead of wood, as fuel for their locomotives. 
In point of economy, over 07ie hundred thousand dollars would annually 
be saved, could coal bo successfully substituted. Various and numer- 
ous experiments have been made, and latterly with success. Several 
engines, calculated to use coal, are now being constructed at their 
own workshops at Reading, under the direction of Mr. Mulholland. 
They will be completed and put on the road in a few weeks hence. 
They are of great capacity, and built with a view, also, to swiftness. 
Wood is getting scarce along the line of the road, and the introduc- 
tion of coal, which can be had on the beds at a mere trifle, will prove 
highly advantageous to the interests of the company. The difficulty 
hitherto in the way of using anthracite, we may add, was the intense 
concentrated heat it would create, materially injuring the works of 
the fire-box, as well as the boiler. There never was much difficulty 
in burning the coal — but, under its destructive effects, there was no 



THE READING RAILROAD. 87 

advanta^jo in using it, and all coals are very nearly similar in tliis 
respect. They emit a heat which eats into the iron of the boiler, 
and, in time, rerders it unfit for use. Thus a boiler, heated with an- 
thracite, will last, say six months ; one heated with bituminous coal 
will last nine months, and heated with wood, twelve, fifteen, oi 
eighteen months. Now, all the money saved in the cheaper cost of 
coal over wood, is lost by the injury entailed on the locomotive, for 
the cost of a new boiler may be stated to be some two or three hun- 
dred dollars, besides the loss of time required to repair. But the 
difficulty can, will, and must be overcome. We know it can, and we 
will aver that it will, for the Reading Railroad Company have un- 
dertaken to do it, and with them there never has " been such word 
as fail." (No allusion to you, 'squire Trail !) 

A merchandize depot, recently completed at Reading, is one hun- 
dred and twenty-four by eighty-four feet, to accommodate that rapidly 
increasing branch of business. About a mile below the Reading 
depot, where the railroad is nearest the river, most efBcient water- 
works are constructed, consisting of a reservoir on the Neversink hill 
side, fifty-one feet above the rails, holdicg seven hundred thousand 
gallons of water, supplied by a force pump worked by a small steam- 
engine. Attached to this station are also two separate tracks, with 
coal chutes beneath, three hundred and four hundred and fifty feet 
long each, for the use of the town ; two wood and water stations ; a 
small portable steam-engine for sawing wood, a refrcslunent house 
for crews of engines stopping to wood or water ; a brass foundry, 
passenger car-house, passenger rooms, offices, &c., &c. All the ma- 
chinery of the main shops and foundry is driven by a very hand- 
somely finished stationary engine, with double cranks, of thirty-five 
horse power, built entirely on the works. 

At Pottstown station, eighteen miles below Reading, extensive and 
efficient shops have also been erected, chiefly for work connected with 
the bridges and track of the road, and new work of various descrip- 
tions. The principal shops here are one hundred and fifty-one by 
eighty-one, one hundred and eighty-one by forty-one, and eighty-one 
by forty-four feet. The first shop is covered with a neat and light 
roof, built of an arched Howe truss, forming a segment of a 
circle, seventy-eight and a half feet span by sixteen feet rise. 

At Richmond, the lower terminus of the road, at tide water on the 
river Delaware, are constructed the most extensive and commodious 



88 OFF-IIANDSKETCHES. 

wharves, in all probability, in the -world, for the reception and ship, 
ping, not only of the present, but of the future vast coal tonnage of 
the railway ; forty-nine acres are occupied with the company's 
wharves and works, extending along twenty-two hvuidred and sev- 
enty-two feet of river front, and accessible to vessels of six or seven 
hundred tons.' The shipping arrangements consist of some twenty 
wharves or piers, extending from three hundred and forty-two to 
eleven hundred and thirty-two feet into the river, all built in the 
most substantial manner, and furnished with chutes at convenient 
distances, by which the coal flows into the vessel lying alongside, 

DIRECTLY FROM THE OPENED BOTTOM OF THE C!OAL CAR FROM WHICH 

IT LEFT THE MINE. See cngraviug, page 33. As some coal is piled or 
stacked in winter, or at times when its shipment is not required, the 
elevation of the tracks by trestlings, above the solid surface or floor- 
ing of the piers, afi"ords sufficient room for stowing upwards of two 
hundred and fifty thousand tons of coal. Capacious docks extend 
inshore, between each pair of wharves, thus making the whole river 
front available for shipping purposes ; over one hujidi-ed vessels can 
be loading at the same moment, and few places present busier or 
more interesting scenes, than the wharves of the Reading Railroad 
at Richmond. A brig of one hundred and fifty-five tons has been 
loaded with that number of tons of coal in less than three lumrs tm/;, 
at these wharves. The whole length of the lateral railways extend- 
ing over the wharves at Richmond will probably exceed ten miles, 
and afiording a shipping capacity for upwards of three millions of 
tons! and it will probably not be many years before this amount, 
extraordinary as it may seem, (as, indeed, it really is,) will be annu- 
ally transported over this great thoroughfare. The company has laid 
the foundation for a trade as broad as the future destiny of the coal 
trade itself. 

A very convenient and neat engine-house is erected at this station ; 
it is of a semi-circular shape, with a forty feet turning platform 
outside ; from Avhich tracks radiate into tlie house, giving a capacity 
for twenty engines, and their tenders, of the largest class. The 
building is three hundred and two feet long on the centre line, by 
fifty-nine feet wide. It is built in the simple Gothic style, the front 
supported by cast iron clustered pillows, from the tops of which 
spring pointed arches, and the whole capped with turrotted capping. 
Immediately adjoining are built spacious machine and work shops, 



THE READING RAILROAD. 89 

for repairs of engines and cars, all under one roof, two hundred and 
twenty-one by sixty-three feet. A visit to this chief outlet of the 
Pennsylvania coal trade will give the best idea of its magnitude, and 
of the various branches of industry connected with it, . 

The extraordinary business of this road requires, of course, a large 
amount of running machinery. The latter consists of about one 
hundred locomotive engines and tenders, including six or seven in 
constant use on the lateral railroads in the coal region ; about five 
thousand iron and twelve hundred wooden coal cars, six hundred cars 
for merchandise, and some thirty elegant passenger cars. 

The engines vary from ten to twenty-four tons weight ; two very 
powerful engines, of twenty-seven tons weight each, are used exclu- 
sively on the Falls grade, before mentioned. The iron cars weigh 
over twenty-four tons when empty, and carry five tons of coal. The 
average load of each engine, during the busy months of the year, is 
very nearly five hundred tons of coal, (of twenty-two hundred and 
forty pounds.) 

The total length of lateral railroads, connecting with the Read- 
ing Railroad, under other charters and corporations, but all contri- 
buting to its business, using its cars, and returning them loaded with 
coal and merchandize, is over one hundred miles. Some of these 
railroads are constructed in the most substantial manner, with the 
best superstructure at present used in the country. 

Of these, it connects with the Mount Carbon Railroad, and the 
Mount Carbon and Port Carbon Railroad, at Mount Carljon one m.ile 
below Pottsville, and with the Mine Hill Railroad and its numerous 
radiating branches, at Schuylkill Haven, (this road is about being ex- 
tended to connect with the Shamokin Railroad, thus affording a con- 
nection with the Susquehanna, and passing through the great Mo- 
hanoy coal region : — it will thus bring an incalculable amount of 
additional tonnage and passengers to the Reading Railroad) also at 
Port Clinton, with the Little Schuylkill Railroad extending to Tam- 
aqua, and thence into several lateral branches to numerous coal dis- 
tricts adjacent. The roads have each many miles of branches, pene- 
trating all the coal districts of this unparalleled region, and the greater 
portion of their tonnage is, and always will be, transferred to the 
Reading Railroad ; for so firmly has it established itself into the local 
arrangements of the lateral railwaij trade of Schuylkill county, that it 
can always command a large portion of the trade. 
8* M 



90 OFF-HANDSKETCHES. 

Such, "my jolly companion," is a brief exposition of some of the 
leading features of the Reading Railroad. Look at it — starting out, 
with one hundred miles of railway branches, from the most extensive 
deposit of anthracite coal in the world, lying some seven hundred 
feet above tide-water — look at the road, as it winds its way amidst 
the rich fields and sloping banks of the Schuylkill, and gradually 
sinks into the bosom of the most beautiful and populous city on the 
American continent ! One hundred miles in length, sloping grace- 
fully from the coal-beds to the river Delaware — is not that a beauti- 
ful idea to contemplate ? Nature has had a hand in it, and enter- 
prising man has improved what she carefully prepared. She made 
the route, and raised the coal-beds to their present height with the 
express purpose, no doubt, of rendering them available to our wants. 
For this, all thanks ! 

I'm not romantic, but, upon my word, 

There are some moments when one can't help feeling 

As if his heart's chords were so strongly stirred 
By things around him, that 'tis vain concealing 

A little music in his soul still lingers, 

Whene'er the keys are touched by Nature's fingers. 

The ground upon which Reading is situated originally belonged 
to Thomas and Richard Penn, who disposed of the lots, subject to an 
annual ground-rent. This rent through neglect, had been left unpaid 
after the Revolution, and when attempted to be collected, some years 
ago, the accumulated amount occasioned a great deal of surprise and 
excitement in the place. The rent was stoutly resisted, but a com- 
promise was soon after effected between the town authorities and the 
claimants. The public buildings of R.eading are amongst the hand- 
somest in the State. The Court House, the Prison, and several of 
the Churches, are models of architectural skill, and reflect great 
praise upon the liberality and taste of the citizens. Reading, says 
Mr. Trego, was formerly celebrated for the manufacture of wool hats, 
and the business is still carried on extensively ; but of latter years 
other branches of manufactures have so much increased as to have 
given this ancient trade but a secondary rank. Previous to 1836, 
hats, boots, shoes, and stone-ware were the principal manufactures ; 
since that time establishments have been put in operation for rolling 
iron, making nails, casting in iron and brass, manufacturing locomo- 



READING. 91 

tlve and stationary steam-engines, rifle-barrels, augers, &e. ; a steam 
saw and chopping-mill, and several shops for the manufacture of 
thrashing-machines, com-shellers, ploughs, harrows, and other agri- 
cultural implements. Besides these manufactories, some of which 
are very extensive, and employ a large number of mechanics, a cotton 
factory is now in operation, embracing some three hundred looms, 
and employing about the same number of operatives. The mill was 
finished a year or two ago, and is built in the most substantial as 
well as ornamental style — with a stock capital of some two hundred 
thousand dollars. 

Besides producing excellent ale and porter, Reading enjoys some 
celebrity in connection with the manufacture of wines. The vine- 
yards are said to be quite extensive, and the wine is certainly " not 
hard to take." For certain kinds of wine, we can see no reason why 
the banks of the Schuylkill should not prove available — the grape 
attaining here all the pulpy sweetness that characterizes it in some 
of the most favored lands. The weather, however, is too wet ever 
to permit the grape to attain the dryness so necessary for the produc- 
tion of the higher grade of wines; — but, under ordinary circum- 
stances of fiivor, wine can be produced at least equal, if not far su- 
perior, to the horrid adulterated stuff palmed off as wine, and which, 
heavily charged with impure liquor, makes it justly obnoxious to the 
friends of the '• Maine Law." 

The common language of Berks county, and some of those lying 
adjacent, is an impure German, so corrupted and mixed Avith the 
more popular Englisli words, that it would scarcely be understood 
by a well educated German from the fatherland. In many parts of 
the county, where the inhabitants seldom leave their own nei"-hbor- 
Uood, English is neither spoken nor understood ; but this language 
is rapidly gaining ground among those of the people who have busi- 
ness communications with others than their immediate neighbors. 
It will probably not be long before English and German will be 
equally used, except in some secluded portions of the county. 

Among the natural curiosities in the county, may be mentioned 
Dragon's cave, in Richmond township, which is thus described in 
Trego's Geography by a gentleman resident in the vicinity. " The 
entrance to this cave is on the brow of a hill, on the edge of a culti- 
vated iield. Passing into it, the adventurer descends about fifty 
yards by a rough and narrow passage, and then turns to the left at 



92 OFF-HAN DSKETCHES. 

an acute angle with the passage hitherto pursued. After proceeding 
about thirty yards farther, he enters the great chamber, about fifty 
feet long, twenty wide, and fifteen to twenty feet high, in a rock of 
limestone. Near the end of this chamber, opposite to the entrance, 
is the 'altar,' a large mass of stalagmite, which rings under the 
hammer, and is translucent. Formations of stalactite are found in 
other parts of the cave, though none so large as the mass just men- 
tioned." Sinking Spring, near the Harrisburg turnpike, five miles 
fi'om Reading, is a considerable curiosity to those who are not 
familiar with the circumstances frequently attending large springs 
in a limestone region. The water here rises and sinks again in the 
same hasin, which is very deep ; thence finding its way again, under 
ground, through fissures and hidden caverns in the limestone rock, 
probably once more to seek the light of day in some other place. A 
similar phenomenon is found in Sinking Spring valley, in Blair county, 
which is elsewhere noticed in this work. 

We have already stated that, during the revolution, Reading was (as it is 
now during the summer,) a place of resort for the citizens of Philadelphia. It 
was here that the conspiracy (for so it should be termed) against Washington 
was supposed to have had its birth, while the popular sentiment was by no 
means enthusiastic in favor of the commander-in-chief, owing, probably, to the 
exposed position of the frontier settlements to the ravages of the Indians, and 
who, in their bold incursions, rendered Reading itself sometimes obnoxious to 
their attacks. Alexander Graydon, who was, at that time, on parole, (having 
been captured by the British, near New York,) gives the following in his me- 
moirs : " The ensuing winter, at Reading, was gay and agreeable, notwithstand- 
ing that the enemy was in possession of the metropolis. The society was sufl5- 
ciently large and select, and a sense of common suffering, in being driven from 
their homes, had tha effect of more closely uniting its members. Disasters of 
this kind, if duly weighed, are not grievously to be deplored. The variety and 
bustle they bring along with them, give a spring to the mind, and when illu- 
mined by hope, as was now the case, they are, when present, not painful, and 
when past, they are among the incidents most pleasing in retrospecting. Be- 
sides the families established in this place, it was seldom without a number of 
visitors — gentlemen of the army, and others; — hence the dissipation of cards, 
sleighing parties, balls, &c., was freely indulged. Gen. Mifflin at this era was 
at home — a chief out of war, complaining, though not ill ; considerably malcon- 
tent, and, apparently, not in high favor at head-quarters. According to him, 
the ear of the commander-in-chief was exclusively possessed by Greene, who 
was represented to be neither the most wise, the most brave, nor most patriotic 
of counsellors. In short, the campaign in this quarter was stigmatized as a 



HISTORICAL NOTES. 98 

series of blunders, and the incapacity of those who bad conducted it unsparingly 
reprobated. The better fortune of the Northern army was ascribed to the 
^superior talents of its leader, and it began to be whispered that Gates was the 
man who should, of right, have the station so incompetently sustained by 
Washington. 

'' There was, to all appearance, a cabal forming for his deposition, in which it 
is not improbable that Gates, Mifflin, and Conway were already engaged ; and 
in which the congenial spirit of Lee, on his exchange, immediately took a 
share. The well-known apostrophe of Conway to America, importing that 
'heaven had passed a decree in her favor, or her ruin must long before have 
ensued, from the imbecility of her military councils,' was, at this time, familiar 
at Reading; and I heard him myself, when he was afterwards on a visit to that 
place, express himself to the effect, ' that no man was more of a gentleman than 
Gen. Washington, or appeared to more advantage at his table, or in the usual 
intercourse of life, but as to his talents for the command of an army, (with a 
French shrug,) they were miserable indeed !' Observations of this kind, con- 
tinually repeated, could not fail to make an impression within the sphere of 
their circulation ,• and it may be said that the popularity of the commander-in- 
chief was a good deal impaired at Reading. As to myself, however, I can 
confidently aver that I never was proselyted, or gave in to the opinion, for a 
moment, that any man in America was worthy to supplant the exalted character 
that presided in her army. I might have been disposed, perhaps, to believe 
that such talents as were possessed by Lee, could they be brought to act sub- 
ordinately, might often be useful to him ; but I ever thouglit it would be a 
fatal error to put any other in his place. Nor was I the only one who forbore 
to become a partizan of Gates. Several others thought they saw symptoms of 
selfishness in the business, nor could the great eclat of the Northern campaign 
convince them that its hero was superior to Washington. The duel which 
afterwards took place between Gen. Conway and Gen. Cadwallader, though im- 
mediately proceeding from an unfavorable opinion expressed by the latter of 
the conduct of the former at Germantown, had, perhaps, a deeper origin, and 
some reference to this intrigue ; not that Gen. Cadwallader was induced from 
the intrigue to speak unfavorably of Conway's behaviour at Germantown. 
That of itself was a sufficient ground of censure. Conway, it seems, during 
the action was found in a farm-house, by Gen. Reed and Gen. Cadwallader. 
Upon their inquiring the cause, he replied, in great agitation, that his horse 
was wounded in the neck. Being urged to get another horse, and at any rate 
to join his brigade, which was engaged, he declined it, repeating that his 
horse was wounded in the neck. Upon Conway's applying to Congress, some 
time after, to be made a Major-General, and earnestly urging his suit, Cad- 
wallader made known this conduct of his at Germantown, and it was for so 
doing that Conway gave the challenge, the issue of which was his being danger- 
ously wounded in the face from the pistol of Gen. Cadwallader. He recovered. 



94 OFF-HANDSKETCHES. 

however, and some time after went to France. While laboring under the effects 
of this wound, (which was at first supposed to be mortal,) he wrote a letter to 
Gen. AYashington, apologizing for his previous conduct towards him, and ex- 
pressing the highest admiration of his military career; — as I had the means of 
knowing that Gen. Cadwallader, suspecting MifBin had instigated Conway to 
fight him, was extremely earnest to obtain data from a gentleman who lived in 
Heading, whereon to ground a serious explanation with Mifflin. So much for 
the manoeuvering which my location at one of its principal seats brought me 
acquainted with, and which its authors were soon after desirous of burying in 
oblivion." 

Conrad Weiser, a celebrated Indian agent and interpreter, spent the latter part 
of his life in Reading, where he kept a trading house. He was born in Germany, 
but came to this country in early life, and settled about the year 1714. He 
lived much among the Six Nations of New York. He was a great favorite 
among them, was naturalized by them, and became perfectly familiar with their 
language. Desiring to visit Pennsylvania, the Indians brought him down the 
Susquehanna to Harris' ferry, (now Harrisburg, the capitol of the State,) and 
thence he came across to the Tulpehocken, and thence to Philadelphia, where he 
met Wm. Penn for the first time. He became a confidential interpreter and special 
messenger for the province among the Indians, and was present at many of the 
most important treaties between the proprietary government and the Indians. 
In 1737 he was commissioned by the Governor of Virginia to visit the Grand 
Council at Onondaga. He started very unexpectedly, in the month of February, 
to perform this journey, of five hundred miles, through a wilderness, where there 
was neither road nor path, and at a season when no game could be met with 
for food. His only companions were a Dutchman and three Indians. In 1744 
he was despatched in like manner to Shamokin (now called Sunbury) " on ac- 
count of the unhappy death of John Armstrong, the Indian trader." On both 
these journeys he has specially noted interesting observations relating to a sin- 
cere and general belief among the Indians, in the interposition of an overruling 
Providence, and their habit of acknowledging with gratitude all such interpo- 
sitions in their favor. Mr. Weiser had an Indian agency and trading house at 
Reading. In 1755, during alarms on the frontier, he was appointed colonel of 
a regiment of volunteers from Berks county. The Indians always entertained 
a high respect for his character, and for years after his death were in the habit 
of making visits of affectionate remembrance to his grave. Col. W. was the 
grandfather, on the maternal side, of the late Hon. Henry A. Muhlenburg, for- 
merly Minister to Austria, and during his life one of the most distinguished 
citizens of Reading, where his family still reside. 

The country from Reading to Hamburg is more hilly than that 
which we have already passed, but still maintains a high degree of 
cultivation. The rolling aspect of the soil, clothed in the richest ver- 
dure, affords here and there a splendid landscape ; but the scenery is. 



HAMBURG 



95 



for the most part, monotonous, until we arrive at Hamburg, where 
we take leave, for a time, of the pleasant harvest-fields and scenes of 
agricultural industry, and penetrate the region of mountains. Here 
the Kittating or Blue Mountain range crosses our course, and, as far 
as the eye can see, traverses the country in bold and majestic ridges, 
sometimes sloping gradually into the valley below, and again rising 
in towering grandeur to the overhanging clouds. 

Hamburg, 75m. is situated on the left bank of the Schuylkill, near 
the Blue Mountain, and about a mile from the railroad. It embraces a 
population of about one thousand, and, being situated in Berks county, 
is composed mostly of Germans. The surrounding country is a rich 
agricultural district, and the village is at least very pleasantly situa- 
ted. The trade of the place is unimportant. But let us hasten on, 
for — 

Our heart's in the mountain — our heart is not here, 
Our heart's in the mountain a-chasing the deer ; 
A-hunting the deer and pursuing the roe — 
Oh, our heart's in the mountains wherever we go ! 




The Kittating is a formidable 
barrier to our progress, but the 
railroad has a way to overcome 
it — or to pass through it. Plain- 
ly, the road -pierces (no allusion 
to you. General, or any other 
democrat!) the mountain, and 
the first thing we see, on emerg- 
ing from it, is Port Clinton, 
seventy-eight miles from Phila- 
delphia, and about six hundred 
feet above the Delaware river. tunnel. 

Here we have a tolerable specimen of the scenery the traveller may 
expect for some time to come — for he is now in the midst of those 
bold parallel layers of mountain, broken and distorted into irregular 
fragments, which constitute the outlines of the great Apalachian sys- 
tem, and which, under various local names, traverses several States, 
and divides the lakes and rivers, east and west of it, into separate 



96 OFF- HANDS KETCHES. 

systems. The scenery here is bold, wild and picturesque, while the 
whole country looks like a vast 

"Ocean into tempest tossed." 

At some places, the mountain sides are steep, rising from eight to 
twelve hundred feet almost perpendicularly, at the foot of which 
flows the Schuylkill, or some of its tributary streams. The red shale, 
which support the outlayers of conglomerate rock, decomposes under 
exposure to the atmosphere, and the effects of rain, snow and 
frost, and the debris, borne off by the streams winding round the 
mountains, leave the conglomerates, and more durable rocks, repos- 
ing in awful cliffs and precipices, frequently overlooking the valleys 
below. Sometimes the mountains slope gradually from their base to 
the summit, and the harder rocks are strewn over its surface in the 
wildest confusion, in pieces of all sizes and shapes. The smallest of 
these stones are carried down the mountain sides by heavy rains, and 
the noise which the descending mass makes, as the stones are pushed 
along by the impetuous torrent, is both exciting and novel. It is 
thus that the narrow valleys have been gradually formed, which will 
be more minutely illustrated in our geological treatise, which we shall 
very soon commence. What can be more interesting to the eye of 
the traveller — to the man of care and business, " doom'd, for a cer- 
tain time," to the daily rounds of city-life — than the change of scene 
which these bold, rolling mountains afford ? Where is the invalid, 
accustomed to the dull monotonous scenes of level plains, or breath- 
ing the low and impure atmosphere of the populous city, who would 
not be invigorated, mentally and physically, in the midst of this pri- 
meval terrestrial ocean ? 

Thrice happy he ! who, on the sunless side 
Of a romantic mountain, forest-crowned, 
Beneath the Avhole collected shade reclines ; 
Or in the gelid caverns, woodbine wrought, 
And fresh bedewed with ever-spouting streams, 
Sits cooly calm ; while all the world without. 
Unsatisfied, and sick, tosses in noon. 

Welcome, ye shades ! ye bowery thickets hail ! 
Ye lofty pines ! ye venerable oaks ! 
Ye ashes wild, resounding o'er the steep ! 
Delicious is your shelter to the soul, 



PORTCLINTON. 99 

As to the hunted hart the sallying spring, 

Or stream full-flowing, that his swelling sides 

Laves, as ho flows along the herbaged brink. 

Cool, through the nerves, your pleasing comfort glides ; 

The heart beats glad; the fresh expanded eye 

And ear resume their watch ; the sinews knit ; 

And life ahoota swift through all the lengthened limbs. 

Before leaving this place, which is a point of divergence, it is 
proper that vre should have an understanding with the reader. If 
the traveller desires to proceed to Wilkesbarre, or to Mauch Chunk, 
it would be advisable for him to leave the car, and place himself in 
the train for Tamaqua, twenty miles distant, where stages run directly 
to the place mentioned. For our part, we must proceed to Pottsville, 
fifteen miles distant, from which place, dear sir, we'll join you at 
Tamaqua, and then 

Follow thee 
With truth and loyalty. 

We would cordially invite you and your carpet-bag to accompany 
us, but that there is no railway communication between the two 
places, and we have a horror for stages in warm weather. So, fore- 
well! 

If we do meet again, why we shall smile ; 
If not, why then this parting was well made. 
* * * Come, ho ! away ! All a-h-o-a-r-d ! 

Well, leaving Port Clinton, we go puffing, and blowing, and thun- 
dering amid the wildest mountain scenery, but still keeping by the 
side of the Schuylkill, which gradually becomes smaller as we ap- 
proach its head waters — (though we can't see that there is anything 
"un'nat'ral" in the circumstance.) We pass two unimportant post 
stations — Auburn and Orwigsburg — the former a promising candidate 
for village importance, and the latter a mere off-shoot of its unfortu- 
nate god-father, two miles distant — formerly the seat of justice of 
Schuylkill county. Eighty-nine miles from Philadelphia is Schuyl- 
kill Haven, containing a population of nearly three thousand. It is 
the principal depot for the shipment of coal, both by canal and rail- 
way. Lying in a beautiful valley, it affords the only belt of tillable 



100 OFF- II AND SKETCHES. 

land to be found in the county. The valley is long but narrow, and 
is dotted vrith numerous pleasant farms, and surrounded Avith bold 
and romantic scenery, of which the annexed figure is an illustration. 




LANDSCAPE. 

The Mine Hill and Schuylkill Haven Railroad commences here, 
and following the valley for a short distance, throws out several 
radiating branches, connecting the main road with all the coal ope- 
rations in the Mine Hill, and Swatara ranges, embracing the rich 
coal districts of Minersville, Tremont, Llewellyn, Branchdale, etc. 
The tonnage of the road is enormous, and like the Reading railroad 
to which it is tributary, it has a descending grade throughout its com- 
bined length. A train of passenger cars runs between Schuylkill 
Haven and Tremont, via Minersville. The route is a pleasant and 
attractive one — penetrating the richest coal districts of Schuylkill 
county. The company have recently obtained the right to extend 
their road (which is among the most profitable to the stockholders of 
any other in the United States, at the same time that it is one of the 
most substantial in its structure,) over the mountain, so as to connect 
with the Shamokin railroad at Sunbur}' — thus uniting the Schuylkill 
with the Susquehanna at that place. It is proposed, we believe, to 
ascend the mountain by inclined planes, constructed in the usual 
manner, or upon the plan of those at Mauch Chunk, hereafter de- 
scribed. This route will afford an outlet for the great and prolific 
Mahonoy coal region, and the road will probably prove as profitable, 



MOUNT CARBON. 



101 



at no distant day, as the main line, with its numerous projecting 
branches, now is. 

Thjee miles above Schuylkill Haven we reach Mount Carbon, 
which was formerly the terminus of the Reading Railroad. A large 
quantity of coal is also shipped from this place, from which several 
lateral railroads extend to the coal mines in the vicinity of Pottsvillc, 
Port Carbon, St. Clair, Tuscarora, and other mining districts. The 
handsome cottage on the slope of the hill on the opposite side of the 
river, is the residence of Mr. Walker, superintendent of this section 




MANSION HOUSE NEAR POTTSVILLE. 

of the railroad. The stone octagonal building in front of it, is his 
office. On the left, and near the railroad, is the Mansion Hotel, now 
conducted by Mr. Head, one of the most distinguished caterers on 
the American continent. His reputation, in connection with hotels, 
is so well established, and so preeminently superior to what is ordi- 
narily associated with country inns, that no remark of ours could add 
one jot to its value. "VVliile proprietor of the Mansion House in 
Third street, Philadelphia, his guests — always few in number — com- 
prised some of the most distinguished and opulent citizens which the 
country could boast. His wines were recognized as indisputably 
superior to those of any public or private gentleman in the city, 
while his table d'hote literally groaned beneath the sumptuous dishes 
spread out upon it. 

This hotel has recently been materially enlarged and improved. 
9* 



102 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

It is the only establishment, in this part of the country, specially 
adapted for the accommodation of summer visitors to the coal region 
— being large and airy, and sufficiently near Pottsville to render it 
readily accessible, and sufficiently distant to avoid its dust and busi- 
ness excitements. It has an extensive and beautiful park attached, 
with bowling house, and other arrangements for out-door amuse- 
ments. The location, as may be supposed from a glance at it, is 
extremely cool and pleasant in the summer, as well as quiet and 
retired. The nights are particularly refreshing, and sleep is to be 
enjoyed, after the heat of the day, with a vigor perfectly unknown in 
the crowded city. Some time since, the family of Iterbide, formerly 
Emperor of Mexico, and the family of Mr. Tucker, the distinguished 
President of this road — (and the Emperor of American Railway 
Managers) made this hotel their annual summer quarters. 

Pottsville, nearly a mile above this hotel, is the great theatre of 
the anthracite coal trade. It is situated principally on the northern 
slope of Sharp Mountain, which constitutes the boundary of the coal 
formation. The present population is about eight thousand, included 
in which are some of the most active merchants, coal operators, and 
business men to be found anywhere in the State, The citizens are 
remarkably intelligent and enterprising, and there is probably no 
place in the commonwealth where the people combine a greater 
amount of practical intelligence with the accomplishments of travel 
and scholastic learning. The evidences of their industrial energy are 
scattered broadcast throughout the coal region — above as well as helow 
ground. Schuylkill county presents a perfect net-work of railroads 
and canals, and there are probably upwards of one hundred and 
fifty miles of the former laid down below the surface of the earth. At 
nearly every turn in the road, the stranger will hear the loud pufif of 
the colliery steam-engines, and the shrill whistle of the locomotive re- 
sounding through the narrow valleys and passes of i;nountains. Potts- 
ville itself contains several large machine-shops, as well as a railroad 
and bar-iron rolling mill, recently erected. All the stationary steam- 
engines used in the coal regions are made here or in some of the ad- 
jacent villages. The heavy machinery used in the railroad mills at 
Phoenixville and other places, was produced here, and it is probably 
a sufficient compliment to her mechanics to say, that their productions 
are properly appreciated where they are subject to the severest test, 
which is in their own immediate locality. 



rOTTSVILLE. 105 

Pottsville, like all the other towns in the coal region, is of recent origin. 
Previous to 1824 there was scarcely a dwelling on the spot where the 
town now stands. The excitement which followed the discovery of 
coal, brought to the place a swarm of adventurous spirits, which 
rendered it the focus of unprecedented speculations in coal lands and 
town lots. In the midst of this excitement, the town took a run-and- 
jump into existence. It never went through the slow and gradual 
movements of a baby-existence ; but with one tremendous bound, 
found itself nestling at the foot of a high mountain, swarming with 
hungry speculators and eager adventurers of every description — 
young, old, and ugly — green, black, and brown — all huddled together, 
and " eager for the 'fray." 

The late Joseph C. Neal, who was one of the motley mass, some years after- 
wards, wrote the following humorous description of the speculating scenes : 

In the memorable year to which v.'e allude, rumors of fortunes made at a blow, 
and competency secured by a turn of the fingers, come whispering down the 
Schuylkill and penetrating the city. The ball gathered strength by rolling, 
young and old were smitten with the desire to march upon the new Peru, rout 
the aborigines, and sate themselves with wealth. They had merely to go, and 
play the game boldly, to secure their utmost desire. Rumor declared that Pip- 
kins was worth millions, made in a few months, although he had not a sixpence 
to begin with, or to keep grim want from dancing in his pocket. Fortune kept 
her court in the mountains of Schuylkill county, and all who paid their respects 
to her in person, found her as kind as their wildest hopes could imagine. 

The Ridge-road was well travelled. Reading stared to see the lengthened 
columns of emigration, and her astonished inhabitants looked with wonder upon 
the groaning stage-coaches, the hundreds of horsemen, and the thousands of 
footmen, who streamed through that ancient and respectable borough, and as 
for Ultima Thule, Orwigsburg, it has not recovered from its frirjlu to this day! 

Eight miles further brought the army to the land of milk and honey, and 
then the sport began — the town was far from large enough to accommodate the 
new accessions ; but they did not come for comfort — they did not come to stay. 
They were to be among the mountains, like Sinbad in the valley of diamonds, 
just long enough to transform themselves from the likeness of Peter the Money- 
less into that of a Millionaire ; and then they intended to wing their flight to 
the perfumed saloons of metropolitan wealth and fashion. AVhat though they 
slept in layers on the sanded floors of Troutman's and Shoemaker's bar rooms, 
and learned to regard it as a favor that they were allowed the accommodation 
of a roof by paying roundly for it, a few months would pass, and then Aladdin, 
with the Genius of the Lamp, could not raise a palace or a banquet with more 
speed than they ! 

One branch of the adventurers betook themselves to land speculations, and 





106 OFP-HANDS KETCHES. 

another to the slower process of mining. With the first, mountains, rucks, and 
valleys changed hands with astonishing rapidity. That which was worth only 
hundreds in the morning, sold for thousands in the evening, and would com- 
mand tens of thousands by sunrise, in paper money of that description known 
among the facetious as slow notes. Days and nights were consumed in surveys 
and chaffering. There was not a man who did not speak like a Croesus, even 
your ragged rascal could talk of his hundreds of thousands. 

The tracts of land, in passing through so many hands, became subdivided, 
and that brought on another act in the drama of speculation : the manufacture 
of towns, and the selling of town lots. Every speculator had his town laid out, 
and many of them had scores of towns. They were, to be sure, located in the 
pathless forests; but the future Broadways and Pall Malls were marked upon 
the trees ; and it was anticipated that the time was not far distant when the 
deers, bears and wild-eats would be obliged to give place, and take the gutter 
side of the belles and beauxs of the now cities. How beautifully the towns yet 
unborn looked upon paper ! the embryo squares, flaunting in pink and yellow, 
like a tulip show at Amsterdam ; and the broad streets intersecting each other 
at right angles, in imitation of the common parent, Philadelphia. The skill of 
the artist was exerted to render them attractive ; and the more German text, 
and the more pink and yellow, the more valuable became the town ! The value 
of a lot, bedaubed with vermillion, was incalculable, and even a sky parlor loca- 
tion, one edge of which rested upon the side of a pei-pendicular mountain, the 
lot running back into the air a hundred feet or so from the level of the earth, 
by the aid of the piaint hot, was no despicable bargain : and the comers of 
Chesnut and Chatham streets, in the town of Caledonia, situated in the centre 
of an almost impervious laurel swamp, brought a high price in market, for it 
was illustrated by a patch of yellow ochre ! 

The bar-rooms were hung round with these brilliant fancy sketches ; every 
man had a roll of ineheate towns in the side-pocket of his fustian jacket. The 
most populous country in the world is not so thickly studded with settlements 
as the coal region was to be; but they remain, unluckily, in statu quo anti 
helium. 

At some points a few buildings were erected to give an appearance of realizing 
promises. There was one town with a fine name, which had a great barn of a 
frame hotel. The building was let for nothing ; but after a trial of a few weeks, 
customers were so scarce at the Red Cow, that the tenant swore roundly he 
must have it on better terms, or he would give up the lease. 

The other branch of our adventurers lent their attention to mining; and they 
could show you, by the aid of a pencil and piece of paper, the manner in which 
they must make fortunes, one and all, in a given space of time— expenses, so 
much; transportation, .so much; will sell for so much; leaving a clear profit 
of 000,00 ! There was no mistake about the matter. To it they went, boring the 
mountains, swamping their money and themselves. The hills swarmed with 
them ; they clustered like bees about a hive ; but not a hope was realized. Cal- 



SPECULATIONS IN LAND. 107 

culations, like towns, are one thing on paper, and quite another when brought 
to the test. 

At last the members Of the expedition began to look haggard and careworn. 
The justices did a fine business ; and Natty M., Blue Breeches, Pewter-Legs, 
and other worthies of the catchpole profession, toiled at their vocation with 
ceaseless activity. When the game could not be run down at view, it was taken 
by ambuscade. Several bold navigators discovered that the county had accom- 
modations at Orwigsburg, (at that time the seat of justice, now located at Potts- 
ville,) for gentlemen in trouble. Capiases, securities, and bail-pieces became as 
familiar as your garter. The play was over, and the farce of " The Devil to Pay" 
was the after-piece. There was but one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, 
and Pottsville saw it taken ! 

Gay gallants, who had but a few months before rolled up the turnpike, swell- 
ing with hope, and flushed with expectation, now betook themselves, in the gray 
of the morn, and then the haze of the evening, with bundle on back— the ward- 
robe of the Honorable Dick Dowles tied up in a little blue and white pocket 
handkerchief— to the tow-path, making, in court phrase, "mortal escapes;" 
and, in the end, a general rush was effected- the army was disbanded— «i(art 
qiti pent ?" 

The coal region, twenty-five years ago, stood in a position equally 
as tempting to the people of the surrounding States, and especially 
those of our own, as California recently did, and still does. It was a 
new and unexplored region, and, in the midst of the scenes which 
characterized it, every one thought to play a part, and receive the 
smiles of fortune. Many, of course, were dieappointed :— but the 
more practical were enabled to sustain themselves, and with the aid 
of the improvements made in the moments of excitement and specula- 
tion, finally established themselves permanently in the successful 
pursuit of their business. 

Pottsville is much frequented in the summer by strangers and 
txavellers, but principally by those who, having investments in the 
improvements connected with the coal trade, or in the land itself, 
combine business with the pleasures of travel. The place, at this 
season, is therefore generally pretty well filled, and adds somewhat to 
its interest— though there is never a lack of gaiety and spirit in the 
society of the town. Indeed, from what we know of it, we should 
pronounce it inferior, in no essential, to that of any other community 
in the Union — characterized, as it is, by a high tone, governed by 
sound intelligence and fine social feelings. 

The rides in the vicinity are magnificent — for while the roads are 
always in the midst of the wildest and most picturesque mountain 



108 i' i - H A N D S K E T C H E S . 

scenery, they are also enlivened with the varied sceijes of industry 
and activity peculiar to the region— little mining villages, colliery 
works, saw-mills, extensive forests, rocky promontories— now looking 
down from the tops of mountains, then from the narrow deeply-shaded 
valleys looking up; these, in continual and varied succession, are 
among the scenes to be enjoyed in a drive, in any direction, in the 
vicinity of Pottsville. The roads are generally very good ; indeed, in 
many places they are unsurpassed. Nor are they, as might be sup- 
posed, very hilly ; but winding around the mountains, they attain the 
summit without any steep ascents, and the trees and wild bushes 
always afford a shade, which, while it protects the road from the sun, 
and prevents the accumulation of dust, only renders it more inviting 
for the traveller. 

There are, as we have already intimated, a variety of objects in the 
vicinity, which the stranger might visit with satisfaction. Amongst 
others of similar character, is Swatara Falls, situate about nine miles 
from Pottsville, over a beautiful summer-road. The fells, lying about 
a mile from the carriage-way, are accessible over a very stony 
path through the bushes ; but the exercise required to approach them 
will be amply compensated by the view afforded. The outlines are 
sketched in the engraving from the recollection of the writer, who 
visited them some four years since, and it is very probable the picture 
is deficient in some of the minor points. It represents the stream 
with a full flow of water, which, however, is not peculiar to it during 
the dry weather of the summer. A wilder scene than is here pre- 
sented we have never found, nor a cooler spot during the heat of the 
summer, and after the fatigue of reaching it from the road. It is 
often selected, with good taste we think, as the scene of Pic Nic 
parties, with which we have associated it in the engraving. 

Inasmuch as the general character of the country will be frequently 
referred to in our article on the coal formation, it would be a useless 
repetition to extend our remarks at this place. We will, therefore, 
continue the journey, and meet our old friend (who has thought well 
enough of our good intentions to entertain him thus far,) at Tamaqua. 
We take the cars near Pottsville to TuStarora, via the Schuylkill 
valley railroad, and thence by stage to Tamaqua. The country, as 
we pass along, is grand — wild — sublime, and so forth, and all that ; 
at Tiimaqua the gorge in the mountain, through which the wild little 
Scl.iivlkill, like a lost child, runs on to meet her anxious maternal 



TAMAQUA. Ill 

pwirent at Port Clinton — is truly magnificent. Sharp mountain rises 
to a lofty height in the rear of the town, and its summit afifords a 
splendid view of the whole interior coal basin, which is^here remark- 
ably rich in its development. There are several characteristic moun- 
tain scenes along the railroad, between here and Port Clinton — did 
you observe them? Ah, it is well; it saves us the trouble of a 
description. 

Tamaqua is beautifully situated, and is a thriving and important 
place. The little Schuylkill coal and railroad company own nearly 
all the adjacent coal lands, embracing upwards of five thousand acres, 
and it is through their auspices that the town has grown into its 
present prosperous condition. It is of comparatively recent origin, 
like all the towns and villages of the coal region ; but its progress in 
population and business has been much more rapid, at the same time 
that it has been substantial and durable. During the depression of 
business which has characterized most of the mining districts, for the 
last few years, Tamaqua maintained a degree of comparative pros- 
perity ; and such is its peculiar position amongst the most important 
elements of industrial progress, that the place, at no distant day, 
must become one of great commercial interest. Tamaqua lies on the 
railroad route connecting Philadelphia with Lake Erie ; and from the 
importance of the road, and the natural advantages favoring its con- 
struction, no doubt can be entertained of its ultimate prosecution. 
A large portion of the route, in fact, is already finished — a still larger 
portion graded, and but a comparatively short distance yet to be 
graded and equipped, to complete the whole, which would thus 
furnish a shorter route, from Philadelphia to Lake Erie, than is af- 
forded from New York to Dunkirk, via the Erie railroad. Six miles 
from Tamaqua is Summit Hill, a small mining village, the spot 
where anthracite coal was originally discovered, and the site of the 
great open quarry of the Lehigh coal and Navigation Company. 
This quarry has been abandoned in favor of the usual process of 
mining by drifts. The coal strata, on arriving at this point, converge 
towards each other, and appear to have been ovortilted, thus forming 
an almost solid area of coal of great thickness. Lying near the sur- 
face, it was for many years mined in open quarry. A railroad ex- 
tends from this place to Mauch Chunk, over which the coal mined 
in the vicinity is carried. The road is nine miles in length, and has 
a gradual descent from the summit of the mountain to Mauch Chunk, 



112 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

where the coal is transferred to canal-boats. The entire descent is, 
we believe, over six hundred feet. The cars thus descend by their 
own weight, under the charge of a conductor ; and the passage down 
affords one of the most unique and exciting trips which the imagi- 
nation could picture. The scenery — oh! the wild, the bold, the 
terrible mountain scenery as you pass along — swifter than the winged 
messengers of the air ! You look around and below with a feeling 
half fear and half inward unearthly satisfaction ! Heavens ! could 
anything be more pleasing — more delightful ; and then, winding 
round a curvature, where the cai's might run off the track, and pre- 
cipitate their enthusiastic and excited contents several hundred feet 
into the little agricultural valley below — you tremble and shrug, and 
wonder ?"/" anything could be more dangerous! A-ha! Look at those 
lazy old conglomerates there, reposing in awful cliffs and massive 
columns on the mountain's side; and here, let us "calmly" survey 
the harvests fields, the fresh-mown hay, the little white cottages 
looking like children's playthings, scattered over the valley " away 
down below." How beautiful, in this tremendous ocean of untamed 
and unchiseled mountains, the little narrow patches of the farmer 
appear ! They look like long pieces of richly figured carpet, while 
the stately pines give them a border of the darkest and softest green. 
Rising one after the other, like an army of soldiers, to the mountain 
top, their tall spear-shaped plumes pierce the region of clouds, while 
beneath they bury their quivering shadows in the solemn depths of 
solitude ; for 

The sound of the church-going bell 
These valleys and rocks ne'er heard, — 

Ne'er sighed at the sound of a knell. 
Or smiled when a Sabbath appeared. 

At the terminus of the railroad flows the Lehigh river, a stream of 
no great volume, except in times of long continued rain. At such 
seasons the banks are overflowed, and some of the villages and 
property on its banks occasionally suffer material injury. The banks 
are deep and much worn in consequence of the velocity of the stream, 
and the large amount of debris collected in the mountains are carried 
down in the current. The Lehigh empties into the Delaware river at 
Easton, a distance of thirty-six miles from Mauch Chunk. It is made 



MAUCH CHUNK. 115 

navigal)lo to Easton, and also to White Haven, twenty-six miles above, 
for coal boats of one hundred tons. Beyond White Haven to Stod- 
dartsvillo, the river has been improved for descending lumber, which 
-forms a large trade on this river, besides that of coal. The Lehigh 
Coal and Navigation Company, under whose auspices these stupen- 
dous improvements were made, own upwards of ton thousand acres 
of the coal land embraced in this region, while their works afford an 
outlet for the adjacent coal districts of Beaver Meadow, Spring Moun- 
tain, Hazleton, Buck Mountain, White Haven, etc. Projects for the 
navigation of the Lehigh were set on foot as early as 1792 ; but it 
was only after the discovery of coal, and when its importance began 
to be righly appreciated, that its entire completion was effected. A 
vast amount of capital has been sunk unnecessarily, which has in- 
volved the present company to a serious extent ; but the growing im- 
portance of its trade must and will ultimately place the works in a 
paying condition. 

To effect the transfer of coal from the cars to the canal boats, ex- 
tensive steam and other works are employed. In the first place, there 
is an inclined plane, running from the railroad, (which terminates at 
a point about one hundred and fifty feet above the level of the river), 
to the banks of the canal-basin, where tressel-works are erected, pro- 
jecting over the river. Over this plane the loaded cars descend. The 
rapidity of their descent is in a measure checked by the weight of the 
empty cars ascending, which, being fastened at the other end of the 
rope, and moving on a parallel railway on the same plane, necessarily 
mount as rapidly as the loaded cars descend. But the partial coun- 
terpoise is still insufficient to moderate properly the speed of the de- 
scending cars. This object is effectually gained by an iron band 
which clasps the drum, (to which the rope is attached,) and which, 
compressed by a lever, controls its motion. Accidents have rarely oc- 
curred in this descent, but the cars have sometimes deviated or broken 
loose. They are now guarded against by a very simple, yet ingenious 
contrivance. The railway is double until the most rapid part of the 
descent is passed, when both ways curve and unite into one. Should 
a car break loose, therefore, its momentum will be so great as to pre- 
vent its following tlie curve, and as soon as it reaches the spot, it is 
thrown off the track, overturned, and lodged on a clay bank formed 
for this purpose below. Farther down, a bulwark is constructed, 
over-arching the railway, to intercept the loose coal as it flies from the 



116 OFF- II AND SKETCHES. 

cars. "When the car arrives at the foot of the inclined plane, it pitches 
into a downward curve in the railway, and a projecting bar, which 
secures the lower end of the car, and which, for this purpose, is hung in 
a horizontal axis, knocks it open, and the coal slides down a steep 
funnel or shute, into the canal boat, which, receding from the shore 
by the impulse thus given it, occasions the coal to spread evenly over 
its bottom. 

In addition to this inclined plane, however, there are shutes con- 
necting directly with the railroad and the banks of the canal. These 
shutes are probably upwards of two hundred feet in length, lined 
with an iron flooring. The coal is thrown in from the car above, and 
slides down to the boats in the canal, thus saving the trouble and ex- 
pense of hoisting the cars up and down. These works are all indicated 
in the engraving; annexed. 

After the cars are unloaded, they are returned to the summit, in 
precisely the same manner as they came down — that is, by gravita- 
tion. To effect this, two inclined planes are used, one of which, on 
the top of Mount Pisgah, is indicated in the engraving. A stationary 
steam-engine is placed at the head of each plane, by means of which 
the empty cars are drawn up. After reaching the top of Mount 
Pisgah, they descend by gravitation a distance of six miles, when the 
other plane is reached. Raised over this, they descend again, in like 
manner, until they get their supplies of coal, when they are returned 
on the road already described. An imaginary railway circle is thus 
described, over which the cars proceed with the swiftness, almost, 
of lightning, without any motive-power whatever. Mount Pisgah 
plane is twenty-two hundred and fifty feet in length, overcoming a 
perpendicular height of nearly seven hundred feet. This is probably 
tlie greatest elevation overcome by any other single inclined plane in the 
world. Previous to the completion of this new road, the empty cars 
were drawn back by mules, that always accompanied the loaded trains 
in their descent, having had cars expressly appropriated to their ac- 
commodation. Upwards of six hundred mules were thus employed, 
occasioning, as may well be supposed, a heavy item of expense, includ- 
ing that necessary for the support of their drivers. It is, in our opin- 
ion, a serious obstacle to the success of this company, that so much 
machinery, and that of an expensive and complicated character, has 
to be maintained to carry on their business. 

Mauch Chunk is a remarkable Aallage, and no engraving could hope 



THE LEHIGH. 119 

to portray its peculiar features — nor, indeed, could any considerable 
portion of it, small as it is, be exhibited in a single view, since the 
town creeps in amongst the naiTOw valleys of the numerous moun- 
tains, in which it is situated, for nestling places. It is a bird's-nest 
of a place — hemmed in by high and steep mountains on all sides — 
some gracefully curving around it, while others terminate abruptly in 
its midst, and seemingly frown down upon it. The houses, which are 
generally very neat and creditable structures, are built on the sides 
of the mountains — in some instances the fronts presenting three and 
four stories, the rear one. There are two principal hotels, which are 
much frequented during the summer months by travellers and tourists, 
but more especially by enterprizing capitalists and manufacturers 
interested in the vast resources of the country, and who, being usually 
accompanied by their wives and daughters, make their visit one of 
business as well as pleasure — mingling profit with the pursuit of nov- 
elty and entertainment — wild scenery, wholesome air, and so forth. 

We have now — oh, reader ! — we have now finished Part First of tliis, 
our " Travels I" 



PAET II. 



Ci)B lutjiriiriti! Cnnl /nrmntiau. 

" I will teach you to pierce the bowels of the eaxth, and bring out from the 
caverns of mountains metals which will give strength to our hands, and subject 
all nature to our use and pleasure." — Dr. Johnson. 

Coal is indisputably a vegetable production, and occupies a position 
low down, among the earliest deposits of the primeval earth. For a 
long time it was hard to recognize its vegetable origin, because the 
fact opened the door to some of the grandest and most wonderful 
phenomena ever grasped by philosophy — originating theories and 
hypotheses, as it did, which conflicted not only with every previous 
opinion, but seemingly struck a heavy blow at the truths of revealed 
law. Instead of the earth being but a few thousand years old, the 
coal deposits prove it to be of great and incalculable antiquity — 
numbering its years not by centuries, but rather by thousands and 
millions far anterior to the flood. Nor is its wonderful antiquity 
inconsistent, as was at first supposed, with the doctrines of divine 
revelation.* Science and Religion are identical in their true mission, 

* Prof. Silliman, during a recent course of lectures on Geology, before the 
Smithsonian Institute at Washington, stated, decidedly, that there is no conflict 
between geology and the scripture history. The case is widely difi'erent from 
that of astronomy, more than two hundred years ago, which was condemned as 
heretical, because the scriptures described the appearances of the heavens only, 
v/hich were all that in general mankind could be acquainted with. 

But in the case of geology, there is not even a literal discrepancy. On the 
contrary, all the geological formations correspond in the order of time, and, as 
far as they are described in the scriptures, with the nature of the deposits, 
(120) 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 121 

and cannot fail to harmonize when properly understood. The beneficent 

doctrines of the great Mediator were promulgated at a period when 

the world was unprepared either for the startling traths or the prac- 

^tical benefits of science— hence it was left for the Bible to gradually 

especially in the succession of created beings endowed with life, and man in 
both systems crowns the whole. 

The only change required is extension of time, so as to afford enough U' 
allow the events to happen by natural laws, established by the Creator, and 
expressive of his will, which is thus distinctly recorded in the earth itself. 
'•■ The beginning" is not limited in time, and may extend as far back as the 
case may require ; thus providing for all the early formations. 

The periods called days are not necessarily such as we now denote by that 
word. There could be no regulation and division of time, as we now have it. 
until the sun was set to ruje the day. Morning and evening may be, before 
that time, figurative expressions, denoting merely beginning and ending, as we 
say the morning and evening of life. The word day is used, in this short narra- 
tive, in all the senses in which it is ever employed in language, and signifi- 
cantly in the recapitulation or summary ; in the beginning of the second chap- 
ter day is used for the whole period of the creation, and in the same sense in 
various other parts of the scriptures. 

The periods required for all the amazing series of events recorded in the earth 
are necessai-ily long ; and if time was measured by natural days in the fifth and 
sixth periods, diiring the creation and sepulture of innumerable races of marine 
and terrestrial animals, there must have been a repetition of very many of those 
days to make out a long epoch, which might as weU be regarded at once as a 
period of sufficient length for the work. 

The Sabbath stands by itself, after the work is finished, a moral institution, 
having no necessary connection with the preceding physical events. By it man 
is every week reminded of his Maker and his destination, and although neither 
momin"" nor evening are in the Genesis named in connection with the Sabbath, 
it has no doubt always been of the same length as now, and does not belong to 
the geological epochs. 

If this view is not acceptable, it is still indispensable, that in some way the 
time should be found, and no person fully acquainted with the structure of the 
earth can doubt that the time was very long, and no other person can be ad- 
mitted as qualified to judge in the case. There is no reason to believe that man 
has been in the world more than six thousand years and the antiquity of the 
planet refers to ages before man was created. The allusion in the command- 
ments, and in other parts of the scriptures, to the six days would of course be 
made in conformity with the language adopted in the narrative, which, being 
for the mass of mankind, was necessarily a popular history, although of divine 
ori"''in ; and the historian adopted a division of time that was in general use, 

11 Q 



122 OFF- HAND SKETCHES. 

prepai'e and guide fallen man to a higher and nobler destiny, rather 
than to confound and corrupt him with a prematm-e and ximiaUiral 
perception of the mysteries of the universe, and the great social and 
physical laws that impel him onward. This is the mission of the 

although as to half the time, at least, it was inconsistent with astronomical laws. 
Extension of the time to such a length as to cover the events by the operation 
of physical laws removes every difficulty, interferes with no doctrine of religion, 
and prepares us to exclaim with our divine poets — 

These are thy glorious works, Parent of Good : 

Almighty ! thine this universal frame, 

Thus wondrous fair : Thyself how wondrous, then, 

Unspeakable, who sits above the heavens. 

To us invisible, or dimly seen in these thy lower works. 

Yet these declare thy goodness beyond thought, 

And power divine. — Milton. 

Thou giv'st its lustre to an insect's wing, 

And whecl'st thy throne upon the rolling worlds. 

From Thee is all that cheers the life of man. 

His high endeavour and his glad success — 

His power to suffer and his will to serve ; 

But oh ! Thou bounteous Giver of all good. 

Thou art of all thy gifts thyself the crown. 

Give what thou canst; without Thee we are poor — 

And with Thee rich, take what thou wilt away. — Cotvper. 

Bayard Taylor who, at the last advices received from him, was in Egypt, 
gives the following in connection with his visit to the great temple of Abou- 
Simbel. " The sculptures on the walls of the grand hall are, after those of 
Medeenet Abou, and on the exterior wall of Kamak, the most interesting I 
have«een in Egypt. On the end wall, on either side of the entrance, is a colos- 
sal bas-relief, representing Remeses slaying a group of captive kings, whom be 
holds by the hair of their heads. There are ten or twelve in each group, and 
the features, though they are not colom-ed, exhibit the same distinction of race 
as I had previously remarked in Belzoni's tomb, at Thebes. There is the Negro, 
the Persian, the Jew, and one other form of countenance whLch I could not 
make out — all imploring with uplifted hands the mercy of the conqueror. On 
tl)o southern wall, the distinction between the Negro and the Egj'ptian is made 
still more obvious by the coloring of the figures. In fact, I see no reason what^ 
ever to doubt that tho peculiar characteristics of the different races of men 
were as strongly marked in the ilays of Kemeses as at present. This is an 
interesting fact in discussing the question of the unity of origin of the races. I 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 123 

Bible, and wherever its pages have been freely unfolded, there has 
science followed, and proclaimed her unyielding laws. 

Referring the primary origin of the earth itself to the nel)ular theory 
of Herschell, it is supposed to be filled with eveidasting fire — the re- 
sult, probably, of its internal chemical organization, or the original 
incandescence of the planet. However this may be, the existence of 
universal heat within it, is amply demonstrated by the variation of 
the temperature of the atmosphere as we proceed downwards — a 
descent of a few thousand feet bringing us into a region entirely too 
warm to sustain life. It is further demonstrated by volcanic erup- 
tions, which have through all time, and at various places, vomited out 
streams of burning lava and scoria3, overflowing vast regions of coun- 
try, as well as filling up the bottoms of the sea ; while in more recent 
times they have buried entire cities — men, women, and children; 
servant and master ; resident and stranger ; the princely palace — the 
capitol — the column, and the arch — all buried in one common grave ! 
To such eruptions, as the inevitable consequence of inextinguishable 
fire, should also be added the phenomenon of earthquakes, which are 
no less disastrous and terrible in their effects, and no less frequent in 
their visits. These elements of destruction have probably been awak- 
ened at irregular periods, and when fully aroused, have operated 
generally throughout the globe, rather than in isolated districts ; 
hence gradually arose the vast mountain chains that now traverse the 
face of the globe, from pole to pole, throwing back, in their ascent, the 
waters of the sea, and dividing them by impenetrable barriers. Thus 
was slowly produced a material refrigeration of the climate — for it 
must be understood that, previous to these epochs, the climate of the 
earth must have been universal, or nearly so, and that, at least, it 
was much Avarmer than it now is, even in the torrid zone. This is 
evident from the fact that coal is distributed in all quarters of the 
globe — in cold as well as in warm regions, 

have as yet, though deeply interested in the subject, not looked into it suflB- 
ciently to take either side ; but, admitting the different races of men to have 
had originally one origin, the date of the first appearance of Man on the earth, 
must have been nearer fifty thousand than five thousand years ago. If climate, 
customs, and the like, have been the only agents in producing that variety of 
race, which we find so strongly marked nearly four thousand years ago, surely 
those agents must have been at work for a vastly longer period than that 
usually accepted as the age of Man. M'e are older than we knowj but our 
beginning, like our end, is darkness and mystery. 



124 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

Whatever may have been the local characteristics of the primeval 
earth, it is certain that the climate vras much warmer, and much more 
humid than it now is, or has been in modern times. The character 
of the vegetation abundantly establishes this. Of the large number 
of plants comprising the coal-bearing period, there are few which 
bear any analogy to existing species, and these are the exclusive pro- 
ductions of the torrid zone. Fossil Botany, it is true, is a compara- 
tively recent science — yet enough has been elicited through its aid to 
afford a good idea of the vegetation of the ancient earth. The vege- 
tation of the coal formation, according to Dr. Lindley, consisted of 
ferns in vast abundance ; of large coniferous trees, of species resemb- 
ling lyco])odiacece, but of most gigantic dimensions ; of vast quantities 
of a tribe apparently analagous to cadecs or euphorbiacece, but per- 
haps not identical with them ; of palms and other monocotyledons ; 
and, finally, of numerous plants, the exact nature of which is doubt- 
ful. Of the entire number of species detected in this formation, two- 
thirds are ferns. The fossils are divided by Botanists into the follow- 
ing genera, determined by the character of their fronds ; pachypteris, 
sphenopteris, cyclopteris, glossopteris, neuropteris, odontopteris, anom- 
opteris, tseaniopteris, pecopteris,louchopteris,clathropteris, schizopteris, 
otopteris, caulopteris and sigillaria, etc., the two latter occurring only 
as stems, and the last being considered by many as a dicotyledonous 
plant. Of these, figure 1 exhibits a specimen of the neuropteris, or 




FIG. 1. — NEUEOPTERIS. 



nerve fern, which are plentifully distributed in the coal. Figure 2 is a 
specimen of the odontopteris, or tooth-fern, not so numerous as the 
former, but still characteristic of this formation. The next, Anom- 
opteris, are seldom met with, but nevertheless flourished in this era. 



A N T II II A C 1 T E COAL FORMATION 



125 





FIG. 2. ODONTOPTERIS. FIG. 3. — ANOMOPTERIS. 

The Pecopteris, figure 4, is by far the most numerous of all varieties 
of the fern, having upwards of sixty different species in the coal. 
The common brake, or fern, exhibits a type of the family of which 
the figure will serve as a specimen ; but the aborescent ferns, which 
now grow only in the vicinity of the equator, present the closest 
analogy to those of the carboniferous period, which 
were lofty trees, far surpassing in height and mag- 
nificence, even their tropical congeners of the present 
day. From their number and variety, they afford 
some of the most interesting fossil remains which the 
vegetable kingdom has produced. Their leaves are 
generally elegant, and display great variety of form 
and diversity of venation ; from these characters the 
generic and specific distinctions of the family are ob- 
tained. They are often preserved in great perfection, 
and even the organs of fructification are occasionally 
observable at the back of the leaf Several fine 
specimens of the fern may be seen at the Pennsyl- 
vania Hall, in Pottsville, while nearly every coal ope- 
rator has more or less of various kinds of vegetable 
fossil, which they exhibit for the gratification of 
friends. Martin Weaver, Esq., has shown us se- 
veral of the finest impressions wo have yet seen, and ^'^' ^•— p<^<^°p 
he bad, at one time, if he has not now, a considerable collection. 
11* 




126 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



Fig. 5 exhibits a variety of fruit, of the family of Chara, and 
comprised in the same class as the foregoing. The fruit is oval, and 
consists of five valves, twisted spirally, with a small opening at each 
extremity. The figure on the left, marked 1, exhibits the nut within 




FIG. 5. — CilAr.A. 

the pericarp ; 2 shows the pericarp ; and 3 a portion of the spiral 
valve, magnified, while 4 and 5 are the natural size of 1 and 2, mag- 
nified in the engraving. Of the family of the cluh-moss or hjcopodia- 
cecB, there are numerous specimens, the most common of which are 
the lycopadites, lepidodendron, lepidostrobus, and stigmaria, a speci- 
men of which we append — fig. 6. The stem of the Stigmaria was 




FIG. 6. — STIGMARIA. 

originally succulent, marked externally with roundish tubercles, sur- 
rounded by a groove, and arranged in a direction more or less spiral 
— having a distinct axis, communicating with the tubercles by woody 
processes. Fig. 7 exhibits a specimen of the Pterophyllum, or wing- 
leaf, of the family of Cycadccc, seldom met with in the coal, and of 
which the leaves only are known. Fig. 8, however, of the same 
family, called Aster(ypliyllites, is one of the most numerous dicotyle- 



ANTHRACITE COAL F U M A T I N . 



127 





Fia. 7. — PTEEOPHYLLUM. FIG. S. — ASTERAPHYLLITES. 

donous plants found in the coal, but unlike the other, the stems only 
are known. There is a variety of others which it is probably un- 
necessary to specify — the examples already afforded being, we think, 
quite sufficient to convey an idea of the several families comprising 
the coal vegetation. Of the numerous families composing the class 
of monocotyledonous plants, there are comparatively few to be found 
in the coal formation. The class of dicotyledonous, however, pre- 
sents a greater variety and number, most of which belong to the family 




FIG. 0. — SIGILI.AKIA. 

of Sigillaria, of which fig. 9 affords a specimen. The Sigillaria is one 
of the most important plants of the coal, and probably furnished a 
very large amount of its vegetable matter. The stem is conical, and 



128 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES, 



deeply furrowed, with scars between the furrows in rows, but not- 
arranged in a distinctly spiral manner. There are some forty species 
in the coal formation. 

The most common of the coal-plants may be classified as follows : 
first, ferns and Sigillaria. Second, lepidodendron, a doubtful genus, 
variously associated by botanists. Thirdly, calamltes. Fourthly, 
coniferous plants ; and fifthly, stigmaria, which is probably an ex- 
tinct family. To ascertain more satisfactorily the nature and cir- 
cumstances attending the growth of the vegetable matter, it is neces- 
sary to institute some further inquiries. Thus, by comparisons with 
existing species, and the elements constituting their growth, we obtain 
considerable light on the subject, and are able to form conclusions 
which could not otherwise be safely arrived at. We shall append a 
few illustrations. The Sigillaria, so numerous in the coal, have gen- 
erally been classed as monocotyledonous plants ; but late observers 
contend that they properly belong to the dicotyledonous division. 
The irregular and longitudinal furrows of the surface of the stems 
— their swelling out at the base, angle of dip or downward direction 
of the roots, are characters constantly observable in the dicotyledon- 
ous, but never in monocotyledonous plants. Besides, these trees have 
a separable bark ; and slices of it, prepared for microscopic investiga- 
tion, have exhibited traces of medullary rays, which are universally 
recognized as proofs of dicotyledonous structure. While they are 





FIG. 10. — CAULOPTERIS. 



FIG. 11. — EXISTING TEEE-FERN. 



thus regarded as dicotyledonous, or exogenous and compact trees, 
Dr. Lindley has divided from them another genus, termed caidopteris, 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



129 



which he considers true stems of tree-ferns. These are hollow, but 
the markings which they exhibit present so close a resemblance to 
existing tree-ferns as to leave no doubt of their identity with those 
plants. They are, however, comparatively rare in the coal ; while of 
the true Sigillaria, over forty species have been discovered. We ap- 
pend a figure of the fossil stem, cauloptoris, 10, and a figure of an 
existing tree-fern, 11, in juxtaposition for comparison. 

The fomily of Lepidodendra have, by some writers, been supposed 
to belong to that of the club-mosses ; while the lai-ger species were 
regarded as forming a transition to the coniferous plants. The living 
species of their supposed analogues, fig. 12, abound in tropical cli- 
mates ; — they generally creop on the ground, some grow erect, but 
none exceed three feet in height ; whereas, fossil specimens have been 
found over thirty feet high, while fragments have been discovered 





FIG. 12. — CLUB-MOSS. 



FIG. 13. — LEPIDODENDRA. 



indicating a much larger size, figs. 13 and 14. Figure 15 exhibits a 
specimen of a numerous family, called Crassula Tctragona, probably 
allied to the above species, which are found at the Cape of Good 
Hope. They occur in the driest situations, where not a blade of 
grass nor a particle of moss can grow, on naked rocks, old walls, or 
hot sandy plains, alternately exposed to the heaviest dews of night, 
and the most intense rays of the noon-day sun. Soil is to them a 
something to keep them stationaiy, rather than a source of nutriment, 

R 



130 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 





FIG. 14. — LEPIDODIA. 



FIG. 15. — CRASSULA TETRAGONA. 



which, in these plants, is conveyed in myriads of small cuticular 
pores, to the cellular tissue which lies beneath them. 

The Calamites are not analogous to any existing species, as already 
noted, thoug.h they resemble some plants in structure, but differ 
widely in their proportions — the fossil indicating large trees, while 
the existing species which they resemble are but two or three feet 
high, and of corresponding diameter. Of the coniferjB of the coal, it 

has been observed that they bear a 
strong resemblance to existing pines 
— slices of the wood, when examined 
by the microscope, showing that the 
ducts or glands peculiar to this 
family of trees, are arranged in a 
similar manner, that is, altornatel}'' 



in double and triple rows, fig. 16. 

The stigmaria is generally sup- 
posed to have been a large succulent water-plant — the stem, in its 
compressed fossil state, varying from two to six inches in diameter, 
and has numerous processes, which proceed vertically, horizontally 




CONIFERS. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



131 



and obliquely, and traverse the beds in every direction. These pro- 
cesses have been traced to a distance of eight or ton feet from the 
stem, and had a horizontal range of twenty feet. From the extra- 
ordinary number of these plants, it is concluded that they have 
furnished the material for the great bulk of our coal beds. 

From the general character of the vegetation, and the absence of 
the great mountain ranges which now conspicuously mark the earth's 
surface, it is probable that water covered a far greater area of country 
than it subsequently did, while, at the same time, its mineral quali- 
ties must have been essentially different from what they are now. 




FIG. 17. — THE COAL VEGETATIOX. 



The land, lying low and in broad marshes, must have resembled, in 
some respects, our great western prairies, so well known for tiieir 
rank vegetation, which, added to the peculiar warmth and humidity 
of the climate, produced plants of extraordinary proportions — far 
exceeding our loftiest forest trees. The vegetable matter gro\yin!ji; 
thus spontaneously under active stimulants, formed immense wild 
coverings, by which it was peculiarly adapted to receive the ascend- 
ing charges of the elements constituting its growth. Fig. 17 exhibits 
an ideal view of the coal vegetation. 



132 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

Regarding the manner of deposit, much diiFerence of opinion 
exists among Geologists. For a long time an opinion prevailed (and 
is still entertained by some), that the vegetable matter was removed 
from the place of its grovrth by drift, and deposited in the bottom of 
the sea, or the estuaries of lakes and rivers, where it underwent a 
process of fermentation and pressure from the superimposed debris 
that accumulated upon it, and thus gradually changed into the state 
of coal. It is now, however, rendered probable that it grew on the 
identical beds in which we find it, and the supposition is supported 
from the fact, amongst others, that fossil trees have been found in the 
coal formation in an erect position, with portions of their trunks 
charred, and passing into the state of coal, which is, of course, incon- 
sistent with the theory of their removal by drift. 

Indeed, when we consider the enormous amount of vegetable mat- 
ter entering into, and necessary to have produced even the smallest 
seam of coal, it is hard to conceive how it could have drifted from the 
place of growth — especially, too, as the floating mass would have 
been exposed to the liability of meeting and intermixing with various 
other substances, tending to impair the purity of the coal ; whereas 
no such evidence is afforded. It is obvious, therefore, that the coal 
grew on the spots where it is now deposited, and the only remaining 
point to establish this view, is to account for the deposition of the in- 
termediaie strata. This, however, is not an easy task — for they com- 
prise marine deposits of every description, in addition to those of 
sand, clay, and mud, which have produced the extensive sandstone 
rock that lies around the seams of coal. The only way it can be ac- 
counted for, is to suppose the submergence of the coal beds, time 
after time, and the deposition of the sea-shells and crustacese, that 
are now found over them, combined with the conglomerate detritris 
borne into the estuaries of lakes and rivers — after which the waters 
probably receded, and suffered another supply of vegetable matter to 
accumulate. That something like this process is at least probable, is 
sufficiently evident from the alternation of marine deposits and other 
matter with the coal beds, and their position high up upon the sum- 
mits of mountains, hundreds of miles from the present flow of the 
sea. How else could they have been deposited there, in regular 
order and succession? — though It is nevertheless probable that extra- 
ordinary floods, internal convulsions and outbreaks in the earth's 
crust, as well as the general changes of land into sea, and sea into 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 133 

land, at that period, (and even now constantly going on,) contributed 
much as co-operative agents. We append a single figure, 18, showing 
the horizontal position of strata, which will also serve to illustrate the 
alternation of coal veins with other deposits in the same basins. 




FIGURE 18. 

The vegetable material, therefore, having been thus secured, a 
chemical process subsequently ensued, as before stated, by which the 
mass was turned into coal. The fermentation produced by the pres- 
sure of the overlaying strata, and the impossibility of the immediate 
escape of its gaseous elements, heated it sufficiently to produce a body 
of pitchy or bituminous matter, and the coal is consequently bitumi- 
nous, or only partially so, in proportion as these gases were subse- 
quently let out by the cracks, and fissures, and disruptions, going on 
in the surrounding strata. For we find that when the strata are 
undisturbed, bituminous or fat coals predominate ; whereas, where 
the strata are inverted, and torn and disruptured, anthracite, or coals 
which have lost the greater portion of this pitchy matter, prevail. 
Thus, after long-continued and constantly increasing pressure, the 
vegetable matter becomes one compact body of coal ; and now, after 
the lapse of countless centuries, during which the process of minerali- 
zation has still continued, we find it embracing every shade and 
variety of quality, according to the original ingredients constituting 
the growth, age, and local circumstances governing its deposition. 

In connection with this branch of the subject, we present the following ex- 
tracts from the opinions of Sir Charles Lyell, of Engknd, who visited this 
region in 18-11. In reference to the origin of coal, whatever dispute there may 
have been on the subject, he tliinks was settled when a portion of the New Cas- 
tle coal, some yeaxs ago, was submitted to a nncroscopic examination. After 
cutting off a slice so thin that it should transmit light, it was found that many 
parts of the pure and solid coal, in which geologists had no suspicion that they 
should be able to deduct any vegetable structures, not only were the annular 
rings of the growth of several kinds of trees beautifully distinct, but even the 
medullary rays, and what is still more remarkable, in some cases, even the 

12 



134 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

spiral vessels conUl be discovered. But besides these proofs, from observing a 
vegetable structure in the coal itself, there has been found in the shales accom- 
panying it, fern leaves and branches, as -well as other plants, and when we find 
the trunks of trees and bark converted into this same kind of coal as we find 
in the great solid beds, no one will dispute the strong evidence in favor of 
the vegetable origin of this coal. If we find a circumference of bark surround- 
ing a cylindrical mass of sand, we know that it has been a hollow tree filled up 
with sand, nor can there be any doubt that the coal is formed of vegetable 
matter. No less than three hundred species of plants have been well deter- 
mined by botanists ; some of whom have devoted a great part of their lives to 
this study. From this it is to be inferred that the carboniferous formation of 
Europe and America is made up of comparatively recent plants. lie thus 
alludes to three or four of the most peculiar facts which lead to this conclusion. 

In the first place, the boughs and leaves of ferns are the most frequently and 
strikingly met in America as well as Europe. So perfectly have they been pre- 
served that there can be no doubt that they are really ferns; and in some cases 
even their infloresence has been preserved at the back of the leaves. Where 
we have not the flowers and prints remaining we have found it possible to dis- 
tinguish the diflFerent species of fossil and ancient ferns by attending to the 
veining of the leaves. At least one hundred species are determined in this 
way. The most numerous of those vegetable veinings are those which have 
been called Sirfillar-ia or tree ferns. Their stems are found to be fluted verti- 
cally, and in the Sutings are little stars, as it were, each of which indicates the 
place where the leaf was attached ; and it is evident, as M. Brongniart has 
shown, that although the bark of these trees is so well marked that forty-two 
species have been described, yet there is never found any leaf attached; while 
we have in the same beds leaves in abundance which have no trunks. The 
natural inference is, that they must have belonged to the aborescent ferns ; as, 
for instance, the section Gaidoptoris is admitted by all to have belonged to this 
species. The fact is also important because the tree-ferns, and especially the 
Cauloptoris, are now known to be exclusively the inhabitants of a warm and 
humid climate — much more hot and moist than in those parts of the globe where 
coal now abounds. For we find coal, not only in England and Nova Scotia, 
but as far north as Melville's Island and Baffin's Bay, in a climate where the 
growth of such fern plants is dwarfish and stinted. It is evident that when 
these vegetables existed there must have been a warmer, and probably a more 
equable climate than is now found even in warmer latitudes. 

The climate in Northern latitudes was then much warmer and more moist 
than it is now in any part of the globe. The same thing is made evident by a 
comparison of their fossil SigiUaria with those which now attain their greatest 
size in the islands of the Pacific. He had found several plants, as the Astero- 
phyllites, in the Apalachian Chain, and which are also found] in Nova Scotia 
and Europe, which cannot certainly be referred to any living families. These 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 135 

aU, however, bespeak a terrestrial vegetation, though occasionally found mixed 
with marine shells and corals. 

Another class of fossils common in coal shales is the L epidodendra, somewhat 
allied in form to the modem Lieopoditims, or white mosses. Though the mosses 
of the present day are never more than shrubs, even in the warmest regions, 
yet, at the carboniferous period they attained an enormous development, being 
forty, fifty, or even seventy feet high. 

There have been two theories to explain how these plants could have been 
carried into the sea, estuaries, or lakes, and drawn beneath the water and ac- 
cumulated in the strata, so as to form coal. Oi»e of them asserts that the 
plants must have been drifted and buried in the water, since we find them inter- 
collated between difi'erent strata of shales ; just as plants lie between the leaves 
of a botanist's herbarium, and are pressed together, so have these ferns been 
found flattened between the seams of shale. They have been carried from the 
place where they grew, drifted out to a certain distance, water-logged and sunk 
in the mud, and other strata deposited above them, so as to form this intercol- 
lation between the different leaves of clay. 

But many believed, from seeing the roots, that the plants grew on the spot 
whore we now find them. But when we come to observe that these roots termi- 
nate in different strata, it will seem evident that they were carried down, sunk 
and struck in the mud, as snags are now in the Mississippi. * * * * This may 
appear contradictory to what has been said with regard to a change of climate 
since the carboniferous era ; but it is not necessarily so. The opinion of Werner, 
confirmed by the speculations of Brongniart, led him to believe, contrary to his 
early impressions, that by far the greater part of the coal had grown on the 
spot where it is found. Accumulating like peat in the land, the land must 
have been submerged again and again, to allow the strata of sand and mud to 
be superimposed as we now find them. 

In excavating for coal at Belgray, near Glasgow, in 1835, many upright 
trees were found with their roots terminating in a bed of coal ; and only seven 
years ago, in cutting a section of the Bolton Railroad in Lancashire, eight or 
ten trees were found in a vertical position; they were referrable to the Lipido- 
dendra species, and allied L icopidittnis, or club mosses. All were within forty 
or fifty feet of each other, and some of them were fifteen feet in circumference 
at the bottom. The roots spread in all directions, and reached beds of clay, 
;tnd also spread out into the seams of coal. There is no doubt that these trees 
grew where they are found, and that the roots are in their original position. 
The seam of coal has possibly been formed of the leaves which fell from the 
trees. This is a singular fact : that just below the coal seam, and above the 
covering of the roots, was found more than a bushel of the Lepnlostrohus — a 
fruit not unlike the elongated cone of the fir tree. It has always been imagined 
that the L epidostrahua was the fruit of the L epidodendra, but here they are 
found beneath other trees. 

Under every seam of coal in Wales is found the fire-clay — a sandy, blue mud, 



136 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

abounding in the plants called Sligmaria. First is the seam of coal, then the 
fire-clay, then another seam of coal, and then the sandstone. In one open part 
of the Newcastle coal field, about thirty species of Sigillarice were discovered ; 
the trunks were two or three feet in diameter. They pierce through the sand 
in a vertical dii-ection, and after going for some eleven feet perpendicularly, the 
upper part bends round horizontally, and extends laterally into the sand — and 
then they are so flattened by the superincumbent strata, that the opposite barks 
are forced within half an inch of each other. The flutings are beautifully pre- 
served in the flattened horizontal stems. Here had been an ancient forest grow- 
ing in a bed of clay — buried in some way with sand to a certain depth, and 
then the upper part was bent and broken off by the water current, and buried 
in layers of shale and mud. There are many cases of this kind in Wales, where 
the roots of the trees evidently preserve their original position. Mr. Logan, an 
excellent geologist, has examined no less than ninety of these seams of coal 
in "Wales. They are so exceedingly thin that they are but of little value in an 
economical light — yet, they are just as important for geological purposes, as if 
they were thick strata. Under every one of the ninety, he has found fire-clay, 
a sandy mud, containing the plants called Stigmaria. It was discovered years 
ago that this fire-clay existed with the coal mine ; but it was not known that it 
was the floor of every coal seam, and not the root, which contained this plant 
in a perfect state. The Stigmaria appears in the under-clay (to use the term 
employed by the miners,) a cylindrical stem, from every side of which extends 
leaves — not only from the opposite sides, but from every side, they appear like 
tubercles, fitting on as by a joint. They radiate in all directions in the mud, 
where they are not flattened like the ferns. Had they been, we might have had 
leaves in two directions, but not on every side. These plants resemble the 
Eiipliorhiacea in their structure, and in some respects are analogous to the cani- 
ferous or fir tribes. In their whole structure, they are distinct from all living 
genera or families of plants. In one instance, a dome-shaped mass was found 
with stems and leaves — some of the branches being twenty or thirty feet in 
length, and sometimes longer. It has been thought by Dr. Buckland and other 
geologists, that those plants either trailed along in the mud at the bottom of 
the swamps, or floated in lakes like the modern Stratiotes. 

After Mr. Logan had arrived at this remarkable fact, Mr. Lyell became par- 
ticularly desirous to know if the same fact was true in the United States. "When 
he arrived here in August, 1841, he had no idea how far it was true, yet it was 
known the Stigmaria did occur ; and his first opportunity to inquire into the 
fact was at Blossburg, in the Bituminous field, in the northern part of this state. 
His first inquiry of the geologist was, whether he found Stigmaria there. He 
received in answer an affirmative reply ; and on being asked if the plant oc- 
curred in the under-day, he said that they could soon settle the point. "Whereupon 
he had one of the mines lighted up, and the only plant they could find in the 
under-clay was this Stigmaria. It existed in abundance — its leaves radiating 
in all directions, just as in Wales, more than four thousand miles distant. The 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 137 

same crctal appearance was preserved. In the roof of the coal seam were seen 
different species of ferns — S!<jillaria and Calamites, just as in North Carolina 
and in Wales. Afterwards another opportunity occurred in the Pottsvillo region 
~ of anthracite coal. Professor Rodgers, tho state geologist, vrhh, though well 
acquainted with the strata of the district, was as anxious as Mr. Lyell to know 
if the rule would hold good, examined, first at Pottsville, and then at Mauch 
Chunk, and the same phenomenon was observed at both points. In the first 
coal mine they came to, the coal had all been quarried away (for the work was 
carried on in open day), and nothing but the cheeks of the mine remained. 
The beds, as they have been horizontal, are now not vertical, but have gone 
through an angle of little more than ninety degrees, and turned a little over, 
so that what is now the under side was originally the upper ; therefore, the 
cheek on the left side was originally the floor of the mine. They now looked 
at the lower cheek, and the first thing they saw was the Stigmaria, very dis- 
tinct; on the other side, but a little way oif were Ferns, Sigillaria, Calamites, 
Asterophyllites, hut no Stigmaria. So it was at Mauch Chunk, where they 
found one thirty feet long, with leaves radiating in all directions. 

It has now been ascertained for many years that Professor Caton was quite 
correct in affirming the anthracite and bituminous coals to be of the same age. 
This is shown, not only by their relative position with regard to the red sand- 
stone, but from the plants found in both being identical. 

All the coal fields, therefore, may be regarded as one whole, and the question 
will occur, how did it happen that the great floor was let down so as to prevent 
the accumulation of coal, and yet plants of so different textures should be found 
in it. It has been suggested that these jjlants grew in ihe swamps ; and it is 
possible to imagine that there may have been morasses fitted onlj' for the 
growth of the species of plants called Stigmaria; and that, as this marsh filled 
uj), this and the other plants became dry, and the leaves accumulated one layer 
above another, so as to form beds of coal of a different nature from those that 
preceded. We know it is a common thing for shallow ponds to fill up gradually 
with mud and aquatic plants, and at last peat and trees are formed upon them. 
A corresponding change is constantly going on in different parts of Europe — the 
same transition from bogs and marshes to a soU capable of supporting various 
great trees is taking place, and then the ground is submerged ; for always, 
again and again, we must refer to this subsidence of the soil. 

Those who have seen the morass called the Great Dismal in North Carolina 
and Virginia, may possibly have had an opportunity of crossing the northern 
extremity of it on a railway supported by piles, from Norfolk to Welden. There 
is no less than forty miles from North to South, and twenty from East to West, 
covered entirely with various forest trees, under which is a great quantity of 
moss; the vegetation is of every variety of size, from common creeping moss to 
tall cypresses one hundred and thirty feet high. The water surrounds the roots 
of these trees for many months in the year. And this is a most singular fact 
to one who has travelled only in Europe, that, as is the case in the United 
12* S 



138 OFF-HANDS KETCHES. 

States, trees should grow in tho water, and yet not be killed. This Great Dis- 
mal was explored some years ago by Mr. Edmund Ruffin, author of the valuable 
Agricultural Journal. He first calls attention to the fact that a greater portion 
of the vast morass stands higher than the ground that surrounds it; it is a great 
spongy mass of peat, standing some seven or eight feet higher than its banks, 
as was ascertained by careful measurements when the railroad was cut through. 
It consists of vegetable matter, with a slight admixture of earthy substance, as 
in coal. The source of peat in Scotland is, that one layer of vegetation is not 
decomposed before another forms. So is it in Chili, Patagonia and Terra del 
Fuego. Thus, also, is it in different parts of Europe, in the Falkland Islands, 
as Darwin has shown. Thus, too, is it in the Great Dismal, where the plants 
and trees are different from those of the peat in New York. It is found, on 
cutting down the trees and draining the swamp, and letting in the sun, that the 
vegetation will not be supported as it was before, beneath the dark shade of the 
trees. In the middle is a fine lake, and the whole is inhabited by wild animals, 
and it is somewhat dangerous to dwell near it by reason of the bad atmosphere 
it creates. It is covered by most luxuriant vegetation. It is found in some 
places in England, that there is a species of walking-mosses, which are some- 
times seized with a fancy to walk from their places ; the moss swells up, bursts, 
and rolls off, sometimes burying cottages in its path. In some places this peat 
has been dug into and houses have been found several feet below the surface — 
curious antiquarian remains. In the same manner the Great Dismal may spread 
itself over the surrounding country. 

Having thus dwelt somewhat minutely upon the coal formation, 
and the geological phenomena to which it is allied, we will, in con- 
clusion, take a retrospect view of the strata of the earth, and the 
means which have, from time to time, modified and changed its con- 
figuration. The origin of our earth, as already intimated, must have 
been a mass kept in a state of fusion by heat, its surface becoming 
hard by being gradually cooled. The most ancient portion of the 
earth, therefore, is composed of granite, which appears in an un- 
stratified mass, and bears every indication of an igneous origin. 
There are some kinds of granite, however, of comparatively recent 
origin, which so clearly resemble the ancient rock as to be sometimes 
difiicult to distinguish one from the other. Gneiss is a rock very 
analagous to granite. It is stratified, however, and seems to have 
been formed under water. It alternates with mica-schist, which or- 
dinarily accompanies granite and gneiss. Next we have argillaceous 
schist, which was also formed under water, and which is of a soft, 
slaty nature, and easily split. 

These rocks, whose origin is co-eval with the creation of the earth, 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 139 

are frequently found at the tops of mountains, as well as at the 
lowest depths of valleys, which goes to prove that the earth has, at 
various periods, been subjected to the severest upheavals and internal 
" convulsions. Among these rocks no fossils have ever been found, and 
it is thus certain that animal and vegetable life did not exist at this 
early period of the earth's history. 

It is in the next, or second geological epoch, called the transition 
formation, that the first traces of the existence of vegetable and ma- 
rine life on the surface of the globe, are found. Previous to this 
period, and perhaps as a prelude to the introduction of life, the for- 
mer rocks had been disturbed, as above mentioned, for we do not find 
the strata of the transition formation in parallel layers over the 
primitive beds ; but, on the contrary, they are deposited in the 
greatest apparent confusion. 

Geologists have divided this formation into three divisions, which 
are called respectively the Cambrian, the Silurian, and the Devonian 
systems of rocks. The former are the oldest sedimentary rocks 
known, and are composed of schistose grauwackes, mica-schists, and 
gneiss. The Cambrian rocks contain organic remains of various 
brachipods, polyparia, coral animals, &c. 

The Silurian system, which is next above the Cambrian, comprises 
an upper and lower stratum, and is very nearly similar to those 
rocks. They are exclusively of marine origin, and whole beds are 
composed of shells, corals, &c., and those peculiar Crustacea termed 
Trilohites, and which, being rarely found in other situations, are char- 
acteristic only of the Silurian and Devonian strata. 

After the revolutions which seem to have terminated the primitive 
epoch, the earth must have remained for a long time in a state of re- 
pose, as we find in the third geological period, denominated the sec- 
ondary formation, the stratum called the old red sandstone, consisting 
of a mass of rocks and pebbles, cemented together, having been 
transported and accumulated through the action of water, and upon 
which rest the carboniferous dejjosits. This formation is composed 
principally of marine fossils, the varieties of which are very numer- 
ous. The mountain limestone, and metalliferous limestone, in which 
are found ores of lead, copper, zinc, &c., besides numerous descrip- 
tions of organic remains, belong to this formation. Next comes the 
coal formation, and, as previously stated, this is exclusively composed 
of vegetable matter, formed as aforesaid, and in which marine fossils 
are rarely found. 



140 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

A violent convulsion seems to have terminated the coal period, 
which was succeeded by what is called the Saliferous formation — 
being the fourth geological epoch. In this are found the red con- 
glomerate, new red sandstone, &c., very often deposited in layers 
from one to five hundred feet deep. Few organic remains are found 
in these beds ; but it was at this time that the animals belonging to 
the class of reptiles were created. 

In this epoch are embraced several formations, (mostly of local 
names,) which, not being essential to our present purpose, it is un- 
necessary to enumerate. 

The fifth geological epoch, (in ascending order,) comprises what 
are called the Liassic, the Jurassic, and the Oolitic systems. Previ- 
ous to this epoch, the earth was inhabited only by certain plants, and 
a few inferior animals and reptiles ; but at the commencement of this 
formation, a new fauna was created, composed of animals and rep- 
tiles of strange form and gigantic size. Rocks of the Jurassic system, 
as also those of the Liassic, are not met with in this country, and we 
therefore avoid a further reference to them, as well as the fossils 
which they contain. 

In the sixth geological epoch, also in the secondary formation, we 
have the lower or inferior cretaceous system, abounding, as the latter 
mentioned series, in marine and animal fossils. This formation con- 
tains limestone, with here and there deposits of gypsum, clays, sands, 
iron ores, &c. In England, under the name of Wealden formation, 
are deposited, in alternate layers, limestone, sand, and clay, all of 
which are frequently of great thickness. Above the AYealden forma- 
tion is a group of deposits of green sand, in which are distributed 
particles of silicate of iron, which are also found in New Jersey. 
Higher up are again found limestone, sandstones, and chalk marls, 
the stratification of which is only indicated by layers of flint in the 
latter. Beds of the cretaceous group are found in New Jersey and 
other parts of the United States, but they rest on the oldest secondary 
rocks, without the intervention of the Oolite. 

The next formation, (and the seventh geological epoch) is called 
the Tertiary. Between the commencement of this epoch, and the 
termination of the chalk strata, all traces of ancient or primitive 
remains are lost ; the fossils which are found in the subsequent for- 
mations being but types of existing organic creatures. 

The Tertiary formation is divided by geologists into the Eocene, 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 141 

Miocene, and Pliocene; or the older, middle and newer Tertiary 
groups. The first named stratum is developed in the states of Virginia, 
North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, &c. It consists prin- 
cipally of greenish sands, nearly identical with the cretaceous series, 
and of the same mineral qualities. Near Paris it embraces layers of 
limestones, marls, and siliceous matter ;— while in London it forms 
stiff and again plastic clays, which are useful for manufacturing pur- 
poses. Above these layers occur various kinds of clays, limestones, 
marls, gypsums, &c., the latter of which are extensively used in 
France for the manufacture of Plaster of Paris. Above the gympsum 
we find a more modern group, composed of marls, sands and flints — 
the first a marine, and the other a fresh water deposit. 

The Miocene beds prevail on the Continent of Europe, and in 
America along the shores of the Chesapeake Bay, and in some parts 
of Virginia. They abound in fossils, and consist mainly of shells, 
sands, sandstones, and conglomerates of gravel, which are hard enough 
for building stones. In some portions of the globe, the Miocene 
series present combustible materials — and remains of dicotyledonous 
plants abound in them in Switzerland, Germany and Italy. 

The Pliocene beds of the United States are of comparatively recent 
origin. They are found in New York, Kentucky, and along the 
banks of the Potomac in Maryland. In Europe, hroum coal, or lig- 
nite, is found in layers, which can be advantageously Avorked. The 
beds extend all over the old world, and their mineral properties vary 
in different points ; at some places they exhibit evidences of far 
greater age than at other points. They consist mainly of marls, 
sands, and remains of marine, fresh water, and land animals. 

In this formation are also embraced superficial deposits of drift, 
consisting of gravel, boulders, sand, clay, &c. There are two kinds 
of drift, one called the ancient or diluvium and the other the modern 
or alluvium. In the former, which covers over the Tertiary forma- 
tion, are found fossils which date not very far back from the present 
period, — as the diluvial period, in a manner, unites the Tertiary with 
the recent past. In these deposits are found bones of extinct and 
recent genera of animals, and among them those of the Magatherium, 
the skeletons of which measure eighteen feet in length, and about 
nine feet in height. This animal is much larger than any subsequent 
one, and the thigh-bone is believed to be three times as great as that 
of any known elephant. In this formation arc found remains of 



142 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

elephants, horses, rhinoceroses, &c., while it is to this period also that 
geologists refer the immense masses of debris which contain gold, 
platina, and the diamond, in Brazil, Africa, India, and California, 
as well as the veins of tin in England and Mexico. The formation 
known as the boulder or erratic block formation, also belongs to the 
diluvial period. All over the world these boulders have been de- 
posited. In some places they are of huge proportions and weight, 
while ordinarily they consist of gravel stones, of more or less great- 
ness. They are composed of various mineral material, and not 
unfrequently are pure and hard granite. 

In the United States, many of the valleys are filled up to a great 
depth with the modern or alluvial deposits. They consist mostly of 
a heterogeneous mass of earthy matter, brought down from the 
higher lands by rains and freshets. Bones of the buffalo, the ele- 
phant, and other animals, are found in these beds ; and skeletons of 
the celebrated Mastodon have been exhumed at different localities. 

It is in the modern formation, comprising the eighth geological 
epoch, that the first traces of the human family have been discovered ; 
and although it is possible that its origin may date farther back than 
can be supposed from the evidences furnished by the exposed land, 
yet geologists generally unite in the belief that no earlier records 
appear in that portion of the earth covered by the sea. 

Immediately previous to the modern epoch the earth seems to have 
enjoyed a repose of long duration. With the exception of a few 
upheavals occurring during the latter portion of the diluvial period, 
there has been no catastrophe of any moment ; and all the changes 
which have taken place " since the great flood" have been brought 
about by various causes — by those gradual and almost imperceptible 
agencies Avhich, continuing from century to century, and from thou- 
sandth year to thousandth year, will sooner or later have brought 
the world to another grand epoch. 

Having thus desultorily traced the order of strata, we may add 
that it is always regular. We can never find coal, for example, below 
the more ancient formations ; though we often see ancient rocks over- 
laying modern formations, the result of recent eruptions and up- 
heavals. Thus we perceive the value, in an economical view, of 
scientific knowledge. Thousands of dollars have been, and are still 
expended by the uninformed, in explorations after mineral treasure, 
which, did they but enjoy a limited knowledge of those paramount 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 



143 



laws which pervade throughout all the Creator's works, could be 
saved ; besides the labor, anxiety, and bitter disappointments which 
invariably attend ill-directed enterprises. 

In casting our eye over the surface of the earth, wc everywhere 
perceive evidences of a universal and continual change. The frosts 
of autumn, the snows of winter, the rains of spring, the electricity of 
the summer — each contribute to this purpose. The substance of 
mountains is daily diminishing ; and rocks, those silent historians of 
the past, gradually crumble into atoms, and unperceived, are borne 
off to new resting-places in the deep green ocean. Here they enter 
into new combinations, and by earthquakes and volcanic action, as 
well as by the natural accumulation of the beds, again appear to the 




FIG. 19. 

light of day, throwing back the surrounding waters, and presenting 
new " isles in the watery waste." Finally, one little island effects a 
friendly union with another, and thus, age after age, century after 
century, the undeviating, the everlasting laws of the great God are 
performing the functions contemplated in the creation. 

Although our limits will not allow a minute description of the 
varied strata of the earth's crust, yet it is necessary to a proper eluci- 
dation of what has ah-cady been said as well as what is to follow, to 
point out some of the changes of position, of fracture, denudation and 
disruption which they have undergone. Fig. 18, will probably serve 
to show the original horizontal appearance of strata, one layer lying 



lU 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



upon another. Fig. 19 exhibits the usual appearance of stratified 
rocks, lying also in a horizontal position, the lines of stratification 
being distinctly marked, dividing the rocks into layers very nearly 

detached from each other. This is pe- 
culiar to all aqueous rocks, and may be 
noticed in quarries of limestone, and 
similar stratified rocks. From a hori- 
zontal position, owing to the disturbing 
causes previously enumerated, the strata 
have in many instances been changed 
to a vertical position, as shown in fig. 20. 
In other cases, they are changed to an inverted position by the 
intrusion of igneous rocks from below, and actually thrown back, as 




FIG. 20. 




FIG. 21. 



■exhibited in fig. 21. Sometimes the strata are disjointed, and fig. 22 
represents a similar instance to the above of change in the direction, 
probably produced by a like cause ; for the beds which at b, strike in 
a southerly direction, on reaching a, are thrown into vertical and dis- 



fci* 






^^-JUlUUf/H/mi 



FIG. 22. 



jointed masses at &*. In other instances, the strata are curved, as is 
frequently the case with gneiss, especially in the Jsle of Wight, a 
delineation of an instance of which forms the frontispiece of Dr. 
McCullough's Western Isles, from which fig. 23 is extracted. In 
many cases, especially in the anthracite coal districts, the strata have 
a waving or arched position, similar to that indicated in fig. 23, while 
in other cases they are frightfully contorted, as illustrated in fig. 24. 



NTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 145 





FIG. 23. 



FIG. 24. 



Such contortions were shown by Sir James Hall, by a simple ex- 
periment, to have resulted from lateral pressure, attended with some 
degree of resistance, both above and beneath. He took several 
pieces of cloth — some cotton, some linen— and having placed them 
horizontally on a table, c, fig. 25, covered them by a weight, a. 
placed also horizontally on the pieces of cloth. He thxjn exposed 





FIG. 25. 



FIG. 26. 



tlie sides to pressure, upon which the curved appearance indicated 
in fig. 26 was the result. It is thus that, by the chemical opera- 
tions within the interior of the earth, the strata have been contorted 
and thrown into every imaginable shape and position, while the 
unstratificd rocks have, at the same time, been heaved up, and 
13 T 



146 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



thi'own around in irregular shapes and quantities. The unstratified, 
which are the oldest of all rocks, differ from the sedimentary prin- 
cipally in having no lines or parallel markings ; but present a shape- 
less and irregular mass of mineral matter, similar to fig. 27. But 




FIG. 2?. 

while the granite, and other rocks of igneous origin, are unstratified, 
they still occur in veins, which are sometimes traversed by other 
veins newer than themselves. This is illustrated in fig. 28, where 
the new veins project over the old granite somewhat like the horns 
of a deer. These veins often penetrate the overlying deposits, and 
flow over the rocks which they displace, as exhibited in fig, 29. 



m^ 




J V ••■;.,•' ■.V'N 




^;^:^~-^•'o^^i.^^-^.'£ 



FIG. 28. 



FIG. 29. 



Sometimes they are so small that the markings of the cleavage are 
scarcely visible, yet they still resemble stratification, and might 
readily be mistaken for such. This deceptive appearance is often 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



147 



presented at the junction of granite with slate, and may readily be 
detected by observing the distinct mineral character of the two rocks. 
Some of the unstratificd rocks, more especially basalt and green- 
stone, occasionally assume a columnar form, as indicated in fig. 30. 




FIG. 30. 



These columns are of various sizes, but have most generally from 
four to six sides. They vary, however, in length and shape, not 
unfrcquently appearing in short blocks or prisms — sometimes stand- 
ing vertically or inclined, and at others laying horizontally. In the 
celebrated Giant's Causeway, where they occur in a tabular mass, the 
columns are nearly in a vertical position, as illustrated in the en- 
graving. 







FIG. 31. 

We have thus briefly described the unstratificd rocks as constitut- 
ing the frame-work or foundation of the whole superstructure of the 
globe. The accompanying figure, 31, exhibits the varied situations of 
the granite, (the oldest rock of the earth,) as forming the foundation 
upon which all the others repose, and the nucleus of the mountain, 
which, having been forced through the superincumbent rocks, has 
borne them upwards in its ascent ; the strata in the vicinity of the 
mountain, a, being raised at an acute angle at b, and sinking to 



148 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



nearly a level position in the plains at c. The form and succession 
of these rocks, says Prof. Richardson, prevail all over the earth, with 
some local exceptions ; so that its entire surface may be considered 
to form a series of basins, of which the largest, deepest, and thickest 
lie at the bottom, and are filled up by others, which become smaller, 
shallower and thinner as they approach the top — the deposits being 
uplifted and raised towards the edges of these basins, and become 
level, or nearly so, towards the centre. 

The inclination of strata from a horizontal position is called their 
dip, the amount of the dip being the quantity of the angle which the 
line of inclination makes with that of the horizon, as in the accom- 
panying figure, 32. If the angle made by the meeting of the lines 




FIG. 32. 



of the strata, hb, and the horizontal line, a, be equal to forty-five 
degrees towards the east, the strata are said to dip to that extent in 
that direction. Again, the terms dip and strike of strata will be fur- 
ther understood — (for these are terms in universal use in mining,) by 
the following illustration : The dip, as before observed, is the line 
which the strata makes with the horizon — the stj-ilce being a line at 
right angles to the dip. To illustrate ; place a book on a table, with 
the edges of the leaves downwards, and the back of the book up- 
wards, as in the accompanying figure, 33. If 
one side of the cover be removed a short dis- 
tance, the cover so moved, b, will represent , 
the line of dip, while the back of the volume, 
a, a, will exemplify the line of strike. If the 
cover of the book be extended only in a slight 
degree, the dip, of course, will be proportionally 
steep, and vice versa. Having thus ascertained 
FIG. 33. the line of dip, we can determine the probable 

direction of the strike — for if the dip be towards 
the north or south, the strike will be east and west ; and vice versa. 




ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



149 




FIG. 34. 



But the converse of this proposition by no means holds good ; for 
thouo-h the line of dip gives the line of strike, the line of strike does 
not give the line of dip, since there are two lines of dip common to every 
line of strike ; and strata having a line of strike running from north to 
south, may dip either to the east or west. In short, as we have 
moved one side of the cover of our book to the right, we can move 
the other to the left 6, (fig. 34,) while the hack 
of the volume, a, a, remains in the same posi- 
tion. The terms anticlinal and synclinal lines ^^/ 
are frequently used in mining phraseology. \j 
The anticlinal line is, simply, that elevated 
central point from which the strata diverge 
in opposite directions. To illustrate this, we 
have only to extend both sides of our volume, 
as in fig. 35. The synclinal line is exactly 
the reverse of the above, being the point at 
which the strata converge towards each other. 
To illustrate this, we have merely to turn our 
book over, and open it only half-way, exactly 
in the middle, and the line between the two 
pages will present the synclinal line, or that 
point towards which the strata tend, as exhi- 
bited in fig. 3G. 

In speaking of strata, in mining phrase- 
ology, they are said to be conformahle when 
their general planes are parallel, no matter 
what may be their dip, as in figure 37, where 
both the upper horizontal strata, a, and the 
lower inclined series h, are conformable to 
each other. When a series of upper strata, 
however, rest on a lower formation, without 
any conformity to the position of the latter, 
they bespeak a more modern series, showing It 
that the newest of the underlaying group must 
have been deposited before the oldest of the latter. 
They thus occupy an unconformable position, as exhibited in the 
same fig. 37, wherein the upper horizontal beds, a, are uncon- 
formable to the lower inclined deposits, h. This simple illustration 
is very important, because it often shows the position of coal veins 
13* 




FIG. 35. 




ria. 36. 



150 



O F F - 11 A X P S K K T 11 E S . 




Fit!. ."7. 



lying in an uncouforuiable positii'u to tlio more modern overlaying 
suriaoe. 

Various writers have eautioned tlie observer against eertain decep- 
tive appearances of the strata in particular linos of coast, (Avhich are 
no less frequent in our mountain regions,) Avhcre beds, apparently 
horizont:^, in reality dip at a very considerable angle. The follow- 
ing tig. 3S, exhibits a headland as seen from the south, in which 
the strata appear to the eye perfectly level. There appears to be no 
mistake about their horizontal position ; but if the headland treads 




FIG. 3S. 



off, at the point j), in fig. 30, to the northward, afl'ording a view of 
the cliffs westward, it will be seen that the appearance from the 
south is defective, for the lines here show a considerable angle to the 
north, and gradually increasing in their dip, finally become vertical 
at a. 

It has already been intimated that fossiliferous rocks follow an 
invariable order of succession, but that the arranc-ement. althou"-li 
never reversed, is sometimes imperfect; so that, whikMve never meet 
b going before a, or c preceding />, yet we occasionally miss not only 
a single letter, but a succession of letters, and find, in certain locali- 



A N T ir II A (J I T P) C O A L FORMATION. 



151 




Fic. 39. 




ties, that entire groups of strata arc wanting, which occur in other 
places of like geological character. This efTcct may have resulted 
either from the missing beds never having been deposited in this 
spot, or from their having been denuded, and carried away by the 
abrading power of water, before the new strata were deposited. 
Similar causes may have occasioned either the partial deposition, or 
partial denudation of a single 
bed, and produced the thinning 
out of a particular stratum, as 
exhibited in fig. 40. The con- 
formable or unconformable posi- 
tion of the strata affords a safe fig. 40. 
and satisfactory guide to many 

investigations of interest and great practical importance. From 
data thus furnished, we learn that the mountain-chains were not all 
of contemporaneous origin, but have been raised at different periods, 
and sometimes under different circumstances and agencies. Thus, 
if on the sides of one mountain, fig. 41, we find a series of strata, a, 
raised and covered unconformably by another group, b, it is obvious 
that the central chain must have been thrown up aflcr the scries a 
had been dr-positcd, but Ufore the formation of the beds b. But if, 
on the sides of another mountain, fig. 42, we find both the series a 
and b tilted, and covered unconformably by another series c, we have 
proofs thai ihiH mountain chain is of more modern date than that on 
the sides of which the same strata, b, are undisturbed. 

We have already remarked, that in all mineral regions, and espe- 



152 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 




FIG. 41. 



cially in that of coal, where the basins are generally more or less 
disturbed — as, from the very nature of the deposit, they must be — 
the dip and strike of the strata are matters of great practical moment. 
Prof. Richardson, in his geological work, supposes a case, where a 
land-owner, aware that coal exists on an adjacent estate, is desirous 








ifiG. 42. 

of ascertaining whether it may also be found on his own, and whether 
an attempt to discover it might be instituted with probabilities of 
success. In this case, the dip is almost the sole reliance. If the 
dip of the strata in the vicinity be towards the land where the trial 
is to be made, it is highly probable that the coal may be found under 



± t 








FIG. 43. 



it ; but if it is in a contrary direction, the search ought not to be un- 
dertaken (unless, on examination, the veins should prove to be bro- 
ken, and have a backward pitch.) The lines outcroping at the 
surface, fig. 43, and numbered 1, 2, 3 and 4, represent coal veins, 
dipping towards d, on the right-hand side ; the unconformable strata, 
c c, are beds of sandstone lying over the coal veins. Supposing coal 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORISIATION. 



153 



vein No. 4 to rise to the surface at that point on the estate of A, ad- 
joining the estate of B, Avhich lies towards d; it is apparent that A 
would find only a point of the vein on his land, and that it would be 
useless to search in the direction of b for it, since the dip of the veins 
is sufficient to show that none exists there. But on the estate of B, 
though no coal came to the surface, still the dip of that which exists 
on the estate of A, would render it probable that coal could be readily 
found — the circumstances of its lying too deep for successful mining 
being considerations which would depend very much on the angle of 
dip, and the nature of its position in other respects. Strata are said to 
form outlayers when they constitute an isolated portion, detached from 
the principal mass of the same bed or region of which they once 




FIG. 44. 

formed a part. (The anthracite coal regions are merely outlayers of 
the great Alleghany bituminous field, which originally comprised one 
immense body.) Thus, in fig. 44, the beds a and b form outlayers of 
the main strata, c and d — the missinff portion having been removed 
by denundation, while their original identity is fully established by 
the accordance of the mineral deposit and position. Strata are also 
said to form an escarpement when terminating abruptly, as in the 
above figure, a and b. 

The origin of valleys has most generally been referred to the agency 
of water ; but there are other causes besides this. The surface, as 




FIGURE 45. 

well as the interior strata, are first dislocated by enormous fissures, 
causeji by the upheaval of the region of which they form a part. 

U 



154 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



Fig. 45 represents such an upheaval, and shows the steep escarpements 
which follow as a natural consequence. It is in these fissures, there- 
fore, that the formation of valleys commences, gradually enlarging 
until two or more unite. It is thus that most of the mountains east 
of the Alleghany have been formed, the water traversing them having 
carried off the material lying over them, and thus left steep and 




FIGURE 40. 




rugged ridges, with narrow intervening valleys. Valleys of undula- 
tion, however, are produced directly by two neighboring elevations, 

which, by lifting the strata on 
either side without occasioning 
fracture, leave the valley between. 
This is the most usual structure of 
the coal beds of Schuylkill County, 
fig. 46, and hence it follows that 
that county contains a much greater 
amount of mineral, in proportion 
to the superficial area, than any other district in the United States. 
The whole county is but a succession of wave4ike elevations, with 
narrow intervening valleys, all of which are full of the valuable 
mineral for which the region is so remarkable. Valleys of erosion 
are formed by the action of water. Imagine a nearly level plain, and 
then, at one end of it let a stream of water issue forth : in a compa- 
ratively short time, with the assistance of snows and rains, and alter- 
nate dry seasons, it will scoop out a hollow similar to fig. 47, while, 
in course of time, it will form a deep valley, surrounded with high 
elevations, or table-lands. The AUeghanies have, for the most part, 
been scooped out in this manner, and the debris deposited in the 
table-flats sloping out from its loftier ranges. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



155 




ll.^iL^>Avm%M\.\i 




FIG. 48. 



The word fault is one very ex- 
tensively used in mining, and refers 
to the dislocations which interrupt 
the continuity of the strata. They 
are of various kinds and forms, and 
constitute a source of great ex- 
pense and annoyance in mining 
coal. Fig. 48 represents an exam- 
ple, where the strata, which were 
once continuous, either by their sub- 
sidence on one side, or their elevation on the other, have been dislocated 
and displaced. Suppose that h, on the left, were a coal vein : on 
arriving at tha fault, and penetrating it, the coal vein is lost, and a 
great expense necessarily ensues before it can be found. While 
faults are a source of great annoyance, generally speaking, they still 
aiford some corresponding advantages, since they somewhat counteract 
the tendency of the coal veins — pitching, as they do in this region, at 
a steep angle, to plunge into inaccessible depths ; and when the fis- 
sures ai-e filled with solid rocks, as they most generally are, they form 
strong supports for the overlaying strata, as well as embankments to 
keep back the water from the mine. There is, we have stated, a 




FIG. 49, 



variety of faults, both of rock and clay, or soft earth. We present 
another idea in reference to them, in fig. 49, where the strata have 
been still more disturbed than in the preceding. 

We have thus, somewhat briefly, pointed out some of the leading 
features constituting the vegetation and stratification of the coal for- 
mation ; to dwell upon them at greater length than is necessary to 
sustain the tenor of our object, would be a waste of time, and would 
usurp too much of our space. For much of what has been said, we 
are indebted to the able geological works of Prof. Richardson, and 
acknowledge our obligations with a high sense of appreciation 



156 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

of his researches. With these examples, therefore, we must leave 
this branch of the subject, and proceed to the direct consideration 
of the great anthracite coal beds now before us. 

DISCOVERY OF ANTHRACITE COAL. 

The discovery of coal in the Lehigh district is said to have been 
purely accidental. There had been legends of long standing, sup- 
posed to have emanated from the Indians, Ihat coal abounded in this 
section of Pennsylvania ; and among some of the credulous German 
farmers in Lehigh, Berks, Lancaster, &c., one is occasionally re- 
minded of them, and grave intimations thrown out that coal is 
reposing in "certain places" beneath the luxuriant soil of those 
counties. Such traditionary reports prevailed for a long time among 
the early settlers of the territory now comprising the several coun- 
ties of the anthracite regions, and if similar ones in the counties 
above named should ever be realized in the same happy manner, all 
will unite in admiration of the German stoicism with which they are 
still maintained by the " older inhabitants." The story of its dis- 
covery near Mauch Chunk, in the present county of Carbon, is 
doubtless already familiar to many. Nevertheless, it is so curious 
and romantic in itself, and is fraught with such miraculous results 
upon the physical and mental condition of mankind, that we cannot 
omit it here. The account was given by the late Dr. James, of Phila- 
delphia, who, in the year 1804, in company with Anthony Morris, Esq. 
of the same city, visited some lands, held jointly by them, near 
Sharp Mountain. 

" In the course of our pilgrimage, we reached the summit of Mauch 
Chunk mountain, the present sitei of anthracite coal. At the time 
there were only to be seen three or four small pits, which had 
the appearance of the commencement of rude wells, into one of 
which our guide, Philip G inter, descended with great ease, and threw 
up some pieces of coal for our examination. After which, whilst we 
lingered on the spot, contemplating the wildness of the scene, honest 
Philip amused us with the following narrative of the original dis- 
covery of this most valuable of minerals, now promising, from its 
general diffusion, so much of wealth and comfort to a great portion 
of the United States. 

" He said that when he first took up his residence in that district of 
country, he built himself a rough cabin in the forest, and supported 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 157 

his family by the proceeds of his rifle ; being literally a hunter of the 
backwoods. The game he shot, including bear and deer, ho carried 
to the nearest store, and exchanged for other necessaries of life. But 
at this particular time, to which he then alluded, he was without a 
supply of food for his family ; and after being out all day with his 
gun in quest of it, he was returning, towards evening, over the 
Mauch Chunk mountain, entirely unsuccessful and disappointed ; a 
drizzling rain beginning to fall, and night rapidly approaching, he 
bent his course homeward, considering himself one of the most ybr- 
saken of human beings. As he strode slowly over the ground, his 
foot stumbled against something, which, by the stroke, was driven 
before him ; observing it to be black, to distinguish which there was 
just light enough remaining, he took it up, and as he had often list- 
ened to the traditions of the country of the existence of coal in the 
vicinity, it occurred to him that this might be a portion of that stone- 
coal, of which he had heard. He accordingly carefully took it with 
him to the cabin, and the next day carried it to Colonel Jacob Weiss, 
residing at what was then known by the name of Fort Allen — 
(erected under the auspices of Dr. Franklin.) The Colonel, who was 
alive to the subject, brought the specimen with him to Philadelphia, 
and submitted it to the inspection of John Nicholson and Michael 
Hillegas, Esqs., and also to Charles Cist, a printer, who ascertained 
its nature and qualities, and authorized the Colonel to pay Ginter for 
his discovery, upon his pointing out the precise spot where he found 
the coal. This was readily done by acceding to Ginter's proposal of 
getting, through the regular forms of the patent-office, the title for a 
small tract of land, which he supposed had never been taken up^ 
comprising the mill-seat on which he afterwards built the mill which 
afforded us the lodging of the preceding night, and which he after- 
wards was unhappily deprived of by the claim of a prior survey." 

Coal was known to exist in the vicinity of Pottsville more than 
seventy years ago, and searches for it had been made repeatedly — but 
the coal found was so different from any previously known, that it 
was deemed utterly valueless — more especially as no means could be 
devised to burn it. Searches for it were abandoned, at least for a 
time, when a blacksmith, by the name of Whetstone, luckily chanced 
upon some, and immediately undertook to use it in his shop. After 
experimenting with it for a short time, his efforts proved successful, 
and his triumph having been duly communicated, in the shape of 
14 



158 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

local gossip, to the citizens of the surrounding neighborhood, atten- 
tion was very soon after directed to the expediency of instituting 
further inquiries as to the nature and extent of the deposit, and its 
applicability for other purposes. Among those who at a very early 
period did not hesitate to declare his belief in the existence of coal 
in this district, was the late Judge Cooper ; and it was through the 
influence of such persons that searches were continued through cir- 
cumstances and prejudices at once discouraging, and seemingly fool- 
hardy. Among the first, if they were not the first, who undertook 
explorations for coal, were the Messrs. Potts. They made examina- 
tions at various points along the old Sunbury road, but in no instance 
did success attend them. The late William Morris, soon after the 
operations of Messrs. Potts were terminated, became proprietor o\'" 
most of the lands lying at the head of the Schuylkill ; and about the 
year 1800 he was fortunate enough to find coal, and in the same 
year took a considerable quantity to Philadelphia. It was in vain 
that he held forth its peculiar virtues, and vast future importance — 
all his efforts to con^^nce the people of its adaptation to use proved 
abortive ; and when, occasionally, an individual was found who could 
be induced, through the force of argument and eloquence, to coincide 
in the merits of " stone-coal," the well-known lines — 

A man convinced against his will, 
Is of the same opinion still — 

would be involuntarily forced upon his mind ; and finally he had no 
other alternative but to dispose of his lands, and abandon his projects 
as altogether fruitless. 

"We do not know that any farther notice had now been taken of 
this coal, for six or seven years afterwards. Peter Bastons made 
some discoveries of its deposit, while erecting the Forge in Schuyl- 
kill Valley ; and a blacksmith, named David Berlin, continued to im- 
prove upon the suggestions of Whetstone, (who, by this time, had 
discontinued business, and perhaps left the vicinity) and imparted 
his successes fi'eely to others of his craft. But few, however, could 
be prevailed upon to use it. Prejudice — prejudice was ever keen, and 
it seemed to keep men of ordinary spirit at a respectful distance. 
Men of iron nerve could only oppose themselves to the current. 

In the latter part of the year 1810, a practical chemist, combining 
science with practice, made such an analysis of the coal of this re- 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 159 

gion, as convinced him that there was inherent in the mass all the 
properties suital^le for combustion. He therefore erected a furnace 
in a small vacant house on Front street, between Philadelphia and 
Kensington, to which he applied three strong bellows. By this means 
he obtained such an immense ivhite heat from the coal, that platina 
itself could have been melted ! From this experiment was derived 
such proofs of its qualities, as ultimately favored its general introduc- 
tion into that city. 

But although it might easily be inferred that such experiments 
could not fail to have secured for it immediate favor, yet such was by 
no means the fact. Intelligent men, it is true, calmly deliberated 
over the subject, but that was all — the time had not yet come to act. 
Two years after this, the late Col. George Shoemaker and Nicholas 
Allen discovered coal on a piece of land which they had but recently 
purchased — in times past called Centreville — situate about one mile 
from Pottsville. They raised several wagon-loads of it, but no 
purchaser could be found. Mr. Allen soon became disheartened, and 
disposed of his interest in the lands to his partner ; who, having re- 
ceived some encouragement from certain citizens of Philadelphia, 
persevered in his operations. He got out a consideraljle quantity, 
and forwarded ten wagon-loads to Philadelphia, in quest of a market. 
Its arrival there was, as usual, greeted with the warmest prejudice, 
and there were few who appeared to evince any curiosity or interest 
in the subject. Nearly every one considered it a sort of stone, and, 
saving that it was a " peculiar stone" — a stone-coal — they would as 
soon have thought of making fire with any other kind of stone! 
Among all tliose who examined the coals, but few persons could 
be prevailed upon to purchase, and they only a small quantity, 
" to try it ;" but alas ! the trials were unsuccessful ! The ^^urchasers 
denounced Colonel Shoemaker as a vile impostor and an arrant cheat ! , 
Their denunciations went forth throughout the city, and Col. Shoe- 
maker, to escape an arrest for swindling and imposture, with which 
he was threatened, drove thirty miles out of his way, in a circuitous 
route, to avoid the officers of the law ! He returned home, heart-sick 
with his adventure. But, fortunately, among the few purchasers of 
his coal, were a firm of iron fiictors in Delaware county, who, hav- 
ing used it successfully, proclaimed the astounding fact in the news- 
papers of the day. The current of prejudice thereafter began to 
waver somewhat ; and new experiments were made at iron works 



160 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

on the Schuylkill, with like success, the result of which was also an- 
nounced by the press. From this time, anthracite began gradually 
to put down its enemies — and among the more intelligent people, its 
future value was predicted. 

The first successful experiment to generate steam with anthracite 
coal, was made in 1825, at the iron works at Phoenixville. Previously, 
however, Jolin Price Wetherill, of Philadelphia, made several efforts to 
accomplish Uiis, at his lead works — but we have understood that he 
only partially succeeded. 

We vdll now pass by three or four years, during which little wor- 
thy of note occurred, and behold the coal trade, in the first smiles of 
infancy, starting into active existence. As early as 1812 the forests 
in the neighborhood of Philadelphia, and the vicinity of many of the 
principal towns of the adjoining counties, began rapidly to disappear. 
Cord wood, and every description of building timber, were held at 
liigh prices — the former, during the winter montlis, frequently rang- 
ing between thirteen and sixteen dollars per cord. There were no 
improvements except turnpike roads, by which the magnificent tim- 
ber of some of the more distant counties could be reached ; and under 
these circumstances, and as population and business increased, atten- 
tion was directed to the necessity of rendering navigable tlie Schuyl- 
kill river. It was originally designed for the products of the forest, 
the mine, and the field ; all of which abounded in the counties drained 
by this stream^ and its numerous tributaries. The forests, especially, 
were remarkable for the quality of the timber, and the height and 
symmetrical beauty of the trees ; and among intelligent capitalists 
little doubt was now entertained as to the destiny which av/aited the 
product of the mine — satisfied that it needed but a fair start to ensure 
its onward progress. 

We have thus glanced at some of the leading incidents connected 
with the early history of the coal trade ; it now remains to consider 
the position, dimensions, and structure of the coal basins themselves, 
which, ever since their discovei-y, have annually grown in value and 
importance, and, in their future bearing upon the economy of trade, 
are more important to the people of Pennsylvania than all the gold 
of California. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 161 



GEOGRAPHICAL POSITION OF THE COAL REGIONS. 

Locality. — The anthracite formation of Pennsylvania lies in the 
Counties of Schuylkill, Dauphin, Lebanon, Carbon, Northumberland, 
Columbia, and Luzerne, in the middle part of the Eastern portion of 
the State. It is watered by the Susquehanna, Schuylkill, and Lehigh 
rivers, and their numerous tributary branches. 

Extent. — The anthracite formation of Pennsylvania may be 
divided into three grand divisions, or large coal regions ; the first, 
or most southern division, being knovra as the South Anthracite 
Region ; the second division called the Middle Anthracite Region, 
and the third grand division is known as the North Anthracite Re- 
gion, or Wyoming Coal-field. 

The three great anthracite regions may again be divided into coal 
districts, as follows, viz. : The coal districts contained in the south 
anthracite region, commencing at its eastern end, and continuing 
thence westward, are the Lehigh, Tamaqua, Tuscarora, Schuylkill 
Valley, Pottsville, Minersville, Swatara, and the Lykens' Valley, and 
Dauphin — the Lykens' Valley being the north fork, and the Dauphin 
the south fork of the western extension of the south anthracite re- 
gion. 

The middle anthracite region, commencing at the western end, and 
continuing thence eastward, has the Shamokin, Mahanoy, Girards- 
ville, and Quaquake coal districts ; together with the small detached 
coal basins contiguous to the Lehigh river, as the Beaver Meadow, 
Hazleton, Black Creek, Sandy Creek, and others of still smaller 
area. 

The north anthracite region, commencing west and continuing 
thence north-eastward, has the Shickshinny, Wilkesbarre, Newport, 
Pittston, Lackawanna, and Carbondale coal districts. 

The south anthracite region extends in length from its eastern 
point-like end, near the Lehigh, to its western terminus near the Sus- 
quehanna — a distance of about seventy-five miles. The greatest 
breadth, including the coal formation on Broad ^Mountain, is about sis 
miles. This measurement is across the widest and central portion of 
the region, and Avill only hold good for a short distance. The average 
width of coal ground of the south anthracite regiun is not more than 
about two miles. This region, as has already been remarked, is spread 
U* V 



162 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES, 



"""^"ife-r-ii 



like a canoe, being broadest at Pottsville, and gradually contracting at 

each end at the Susquehanna and the Le- 
high. Thus, at Tamaqua, sixteen miles 
east of Pottsville, the basin is a little more 
than a mile in width, and the arrangement 
of the strata is exhibited in the following 
figure, 50, wliich we extract from the book 
of the late Puchard C. Taylor. 

The middle anthracite region, with the 
detatched coal basins at its eastern part, on 
the Lehigh, extends in length to its point- 
like terminus at its western end, which 
point is about seven miles east from the 
river Susquehanna — a distance of about 
fifty miles. The middle region will average 
nearly as much coal ground as the first 
named region. 

The north anthracite region extends 
from its north-eastern end, on the head 
waters of Lackawanna creek, to its west- 
ern point at Skickshinny, on the north 
branch of the Susquehanna, a distance 
of upwards of sixty miles. This will 
not average so great an area of coal 
ground as either of the other two great 
regions. 

Within the limits of the three great an- 



i 



V-,1t 






< 



< 



O 






thracite regions, are 



ridges 



and spaces 



composed of conglomerate, red shale, and 

— sandstone strata, which lie between, and 

^ss^Bg. separate from each other the several ba- 

1^1 iMw sins of each of the three great divisions. 

S?ivsr In this stratification no coal exists. The 

M^_ value of the land which contains the coal 

^]J^rrz is calculated by taking into consideration 

^^^^^i^- the number, thickness, character, and qua- 

lity of the veins of mineral in each particu- 
lar place, and from their adaptation for min- 
ing to advantage, and their accessibility to market. 



FIG. 



ANTHRACITE COAL F O R >I A T I N . 163 



GEOLOGICAL CHARACTER OF THE ANTHRACITE COAL 
FORMATION. 

The anthracite formation of Pennsylvania, as regards its geological 
character, especially in the south region, is very much distorted, 
and the coal veins disturbed, and irregular in their courses. In 
working the mmcs faults, both of a hard and soft nature, or, in other 
words, rock and slate, (or what is not inappropriately named dirt 
faults, some of which are of great magnitude) are frequently met with, 
which not only prove a great loss to the owners of the properties in 
which they occur, by diminishing the quantity of coal, but are often 
a serious inconvenience to the prosecution of the mine, and a great 
drawback upon the profits of the operators and lessees of the colliery, 
sometimes occasioning the abandonment of the work altogether. 

In the middle anthracite region, taking as an index the mines in 
operation, the explorations already made, and the general kind ap- 
pearance of the rocks, and great regularity of the surface, it is pre- 
sumed that faults will not be found to exist to any great extent. 
Indeed, the whole geological character of the middle anthracite re- 
gion — the general order and range of the stratification being so uuifurm 
and undisturbed — goes far to prove that faults of any magnitude 
will be rarely encountered. The mountains are very high, the 
coal veins, especially those of the bottom part of the series, are gene- 
rally thick, and crop out high up the mountain sides ; therefore, 
an inexhaustable amount of coal, of the very best quality, may be 
safely calculated upon as existing in this coal region. 

In the north region the general character of the strata is undu- 
lating, and comparatively flat to what is found in the south or middle 
regions. The coal veins, which are those of the bottom of the for- 
mation, are generally of great thickness, and of good quality, but in 
quantity there is not that average amount per acre of coal as is 
found in the other great regions. This may be accounted for from 
the slightly undulating arrangement of the strata, and from the wa- 
ters of the North Branch of the Susquehanna River, which flow 
through the central part of the coal valley, having changed its 
course from time to time, and swept or washed away much of the 
coal, leaving in places sand and gravel banks that cover considerable 
area of surface. The great Wyoming flats indicate the change which 
has taken place in the course of the river. 



164 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

The basis of the anthracite formation of Pennsylvania is a con- 
glomerate rock, consisting of white quartz pebbles of various sizes, 
imbedded in a strong siliceous cement ; underneath the conglomerate 
is a thick mass of red shale and sandstone strata, which completely 
encircles, in a continuous mountain chain, the three great anthracite 
regions of the State. 

The conglomerate, where the measures are perpendicular, forms 
hio'h massive walls of rock on the summit of the mountains which 
bound the coal regions, and divide the coal basins ; and it is of such 
a durable, undecomposing nature, that in some places where the 
strata is on edge, it rises a natural wall twenty to thirty feet in 
height above the level of the crest of the mountain, and not more 
than from two to three feet in thickness from the base up. In other 
places it lies en masse in immense blocks, covered with a variety of 
xaoss — giving it an imposing, extraordinary rough, and romantic ap- 
pearance, as in the valley of the Swatara, Wolf Creek, etc. 

As the coal measures — from their highly inclined angle of dip, 
which are in some places in the mountain that forms the soutliern 
boundary of the south anthracite coal region, overtilted — pass to a 
lesser anole of inclination, which gradually decreases in proceeding 
northward over the three great anthracite regions — the conglome- 
rate becomes more thin and less abrupt in its character ; and, indeed, 
its situation is at times only marked by the loose detached white 
pebble stones scattered over the surface of the ground, the cement 
which binds the parts together being in some situations of a more 
decomposing quality than it is at other places. 

The red shale, by exposure to the air, and by the action of water, 
decomposes veiy freely, and is the great reason why the general 
character of the mountains which form the boundaries of the coal 
regions are so steep as they are found to be where streams of any 
size run along their base ; while the conglomerate on their summits 
remains undisturbed a rock of ages, until the red shale, on which it 
reposes, crumbles away, and thus these immense rocks are hurled 
from their elevated natural position into the valleys below, and thus 
are immense boulders of the conglomerate carried away from their 
native beds to great distances. 

The south anthracite region contains several elongated synclinal 
and anticlinal axis of stratification. The general order of the coal 
veins ran"-e parallel with the mountain chains that bound the sides 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 165 

of the troughs or bashis, which is in an east and west direction — the 
general dip of the veins being north and south. 

The first or south axis or trough of coal strata, of the south an- 
thracite region, is bounded by Sharp Mountain on the south, and by 
a range of hills, parallel with Sharp Mountain, on the north. This 
axis is in shape like a canoe, its greatest width being about the town 
of Pottsville, which, in that place, is something over half a mile. The 
eastern terminus of this axis is a short distance south-east of Middle- 
port. The western terminus is near the Susquehanna. Its continua- 
tion westward forms the southern fork of coal strata in Dauphin 
district. The extreme length of this axis is about fifty miles. At 
each terminus of this axis or trough of coal strata, the bottom veins < 
end in a point, and are considerably elevated above the place of the 
same veins in the central part. 

In the commencement of mining operations in Schuylkill county, 
and indeed down to the present time, it has been considered by many 
persons who profess a knowledge of these matters, that the range of 
Coal veins in Sharp Mountain, which are what is termed overtilied 
from the perpendicular, are not identical with those veins worked on 
the opposite side of this narrow trough or synclinal axis — i. c. they 
are not the uprising to the south of the coal veins worked in the 
range of hills on the north side of the trough, and which dip to the 
south, and the sections hitherto made and published tend to show 
that the veins on the north side of the axis are not connected with 
. those of Sharp INIountain. It is true that the coal veins of both sides 
of this synclinal axis dip in the same direction to the south — those 
of Sharp Mountain on the south side the axis at an angle of about 
80° to 85°, and those on the hills on the north side the axis, at an 
angle of 45° to 50°, and C0°, — yet there is ample evidence to prove 
the fact that the south and north ranges connect with each other, and 
will be found to basin beneath the surface in the valley. 

In an excavation at Pottsville, made in the centre of the two ranges 
of coal strata of the first or south synclinal axis, is developed the 
curvature of the axis, — the stratification of rock overlaying the upper 
vein of coal is regularly continued and unbroken from one side of the 
range to the other, and at the extreme ends of this elongated trough, 
from the bottom veins of coal being highly elevated, and their dip 
thereby considerably decreased, they show the axis to be perfect 
throughout, and the south and north ranges identical and connected 



166 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

with each other. Thus wc liave at the extreme ends of the first syn- 
clinal axis, the bottom, and in the centre of it, the top of the stratifi 
cation of which it is composed, in a perfect and regular basin-like 
and synclinal order — cloai-ly connecting the coal veins which are 
found in Sharp Mountain, the south side of the axis, with those in 
the small range of hills, the north side of the axis. 

A very important experiment has recently been made at St. Clair, 
in this basin, which goes to prove that the white ash veins of 
Mine Hill and Broad Mountain run into the Schuylkill basin, 
where they underlie the red ash coal. At the anticlinal axis, at the 
place above named, a shaft was lately sunk, which, after penetrating 
about a hundred and fifty yards, struck a vein of white ash coal, 
lying nearly horizontal, and thirty feet in thickness. The result of 
this discovery is, that the Schuylkill basin necessarily contains a 
much larger amount of coal, to the acre, than any other basin of either 
of the three great regions, and from its position at the head of navi- 
gation, renders the value of the land correspondingly great. The 
value of coal land, in this basin, is moreover greatly increased by the 
inclined position which the coal strata occupy, thus affording a greater 
amount of coal to the acre, than if they lay flat or horizontal. An 
acre of coal land, in Schuylkill county, estimated at twenty-five cents 
per ton, is worth from twenty to thirty thousand dollars, and it will 
not be long before such prices, high as they may now seem, will be 
freely realized. A single vein of coal in the Mine Hill region, for 
several years past, has returned an annual rental of over $G2,000 to 
the proprietors, from four or five colliery works in operation upon it ; 
and the same tract will probably continue to yield a like sum for 
many years to come. 

A prejudice against the productive value of coal lands was early 
created by the scenes of speculation which formerly involved them, 
and from their outside connection with ill-conceived improvements. 
The day for speculation, however, is about disappearing; and people 
are now awaking to a sense of the true and bona fide value of coal 
lands, which must henceforth greatly increase with the increasino- 
annual demands of the trade. We repeat, therefore, what we know 
to be the fact, that an acre of coal land, favorably situated in Schuyl- 
kill county is worth, on a fair average, at least three times the amount 
of money of a similar acre, situated in other districts where the strata 
are horizontal, the veins fiatened out, the coal necessarily soft, and 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 167 

the facilities for mining correspondingly impaired. The value of 
Schuylkill county land is also greatly increased by the facilities for 
trajisportation to market, the numerous lateral roads penetrating 
every coal district, and the natural adaptation of tlie county for 
mining puqioses. In respect to market, this coal region is the 
nearest, and for all time to come must rule the destiny of the trade. 
The real future value of its coal land is, in our opinion, far beyond 
estimate. The gold of California, centred in one huge stupendous 
lump, could not purchase a single ba«in of it, were we the fortunate 
owner ! 

In his description of the Sharp Mountain range of coal strata, our 
State Geologist and myself* do not agree, and it may not be out of 
place here to give his remarks thereon in full, with the reason why 
my opinion and his are at variance with each other, as to this par- 
ticular part of the coal formation. Prof. Rogers, in his second report 
on the Geological exploration of Pennsylvania, p. 80, says: "By 
far the most conspicuous north and south disruption of the coal 
measures and their southern conglomerate barrier, is displayed in an 
enormous dislocation of the entire chain of the Sharp Mountain, about 
nine miles east of Pottsville, by Avhich the whole mass of the moun- 
tain on the eastern side of the break, has been moved northward, 
through at least one-fourth of a mile, throwing, of course, all the coal 
seams far out of their regular position." From a careful examination 
of the place referred to by Professor Rogers, as above, I find that no 
evidence is shovru that the coal measures of Sharp Mountain have 
been moved northward, or in any way displaced ; but, on the con- 
trary, a uniform regularity is maintained in this part of the coal 
region. The Sharp Mountain, it is true, is not continued eastward 
further than the place referred to, for the reason that the coal mea- 
sures of the first synclinal axis of the south anthracite region having 
terminated there. The coal veins of this axis, as I before observed, 
are gradually elevated as they approach this point, one vein basining 
out after another, until the last or bottom vein of the axis runs up 
on the table land at the end of the mountain, liounded by the con- 
glomerate. The red shale at the termination of the axis, from its 
soft decomposing nature, forms an abrupt declivity, occasioned by the 
streams which flow down its sides into the valley below — and this is 

* Wm. F. Roberts, Esq., Geologist and Mining Engineer, to whom we are in- 
debted for a portion of these remarks on the Geological structure of the coal 
formation. 



168 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

the "conspicuous north and south disruption" of Mr. Rogers. 
Further north than the termination of the first axis, another moun- 
tain (not Sharp Mountain,) bounds the south side of the second axis 
of coal strata of the south anthracite region. 

The second synclinal axis lies between the range of hills before 
named, and a range further north, which, in the vicinity of Pottsville, 
is called Peach Mountain. The coal veins of the Peach Mountain 
range are very much contorted in their disposition, having. several 
undulations or axis of a minor synclinal and anticlinal character. 
In the more elevated land along the range of Peach Mountain, the 
curvatures of the coal veins are more duplicated than they are in the 
low parts of this mountain range. A better development of this 
peculiar coal formation may be seen in the lands north-east of IMiddle- 
port, where the curvatures of the strata are more numerous and 
exposed by actual workings, than may be found in any other position 
along the entire range 

The uprising of the coal veins at this place forms several synclinal 
and anticlinal axis — the lower veins curve over before they reach the 
surface, and the upper ones lie over them in an uniform way. In 
some places, where denudation has taken place, the continuity of the 
saddle, or anticlinal curve of the upper veins, is washed off, and the 
same veins form several north and south dips, which, previous to the 
nature of the formation having been clearly understood, were taken 
for so many different and distinct veins of coal. This misconstruction 
of the true geological character of the veins, and the reason why so 
many outcrops are exposed, not being considered, led to a great 
many errors in the estimation of the real value of the coal land in the 
Peach Mountain range, as regarded the quantity of mineral contained 
therein. In many other places, too, in the anthracite formation, the 
same causes have, and do even at the present time, lead to similar 
results, and is the reason why erroneous calculations are not unfre- 
quently made. 

The extreme length of the axis of Peach Mountain coal strata is 
about thirty-five miles. The eastern terminus of the synclinal axis 
is at the Old Summit coal mines on the Lehigh estate. This, the 
second axis, extends further east than the first axis a distance of 
about eleven miles. The western extreme point of the second syn- 
clinal axis is about twenty-five miles east from the western end of the 
south fork of coal strata in Dauphin district, and about fourteen miles 
east from the western end of the north fork of coal strata in Lykens' 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 169 

Valley district. The point of termination of the second axis is Tvhorc 
the two before-named forks begin to diverge in their westward pro- 
lonjration from their course eastward. The terminus is seven miles 
north-west from Pinegrove. In the continuation of the" axis of Peach 
Mountain coal strata, the undulations that are found in its central 
part do not continue through its entire length — as its eastern and 
western parts — for as the bottom coal veins of the axis become more 
elevated, the curvatures of the strata are diminished. 

The third synclinal axis is between Peach Mountain and Mine 
Hill, and extends from the point-like terminus of the south anthracite 
region, near the Lehigh River, to a similar terminus, the end of the 
north fork in the Lykens' Valley district, — a distance of about fifteen 
miles. In this axis undulations and curvatures of the coal strata are 
found, but not of that frequent occurrence as in the Peach Mountain 
range. These undulations may be seen at Pihume Piun, in the 
Lehigh district ; on Silver Creek, in Schuylkill Valley district, (north 
of Pinegrove,) and in the Lykens' Valley district. 

The fourth synclinal axis of coal strata is known as the Broad 
Mountain coal basin, which lies between Mine Hill and Broad Moun- 
tain ; its eastern end is between the head waters of Wolf Creek and 
Silver Creek ; its western end is west of " Woolaston's or Raulin's 
tavern." The length of this axis is about eleven miles. 

The fifth synclinal axis of coal strata is on the summit of Broad 
Mountain ; its eastern end is east of New Boston colliery ; its western 
end, west of Raulin's Run. The length of this axis is about fourteen 
miles. The axis is narrow, and the coal is in places washed off — 
therefore, it is not so valuable in point of quantity of coal as it would 
be were tlie veins continuous through it. 

The foregoing axis of coal strata constitute the south anthracite 
region — the first grand division of the anthracite formation of Penn- 
sylvania. 

The middle anthracite region contains, as well as the elongated syn- 
clinal and anticlinal axis of coal strata, several small and detached 
coal basins. 

Between Mahanoy ]\Iountain, the south Ijoundary of the middle 
anthracite region, and the mountain ranging parallel thereto, and next 
north, known as Locust Mountain, are three synclinal and two anti- 
clinal axis of coal strata. The valley containing these axis is about 
twenty-six miles in length. The eastern termination of the axis is 
15 W 



170 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

about eleven miles oast from Girardsville, near the head waters 
of the Mahanoy and source of the tributaries of the Little Schuyl- 
kill. The western termination is south of Shamokin. Both ter- 
minations of this axis break off in a similar manner to the eastern 
termination of the first axis, in the south anthracite region. Locust 
IMountain is the north boundary of the Mahanoy, and the south boun- 
dary of Shamokin coal valley. The north boundary of Shamokin 
coal valley is Big Mountain. In the Shamokin coal valley, taking its 
central part as a section, there are four synclinal and three anticlinal 
axis of coal strata, besides a roll of the outcrops of the lower veins of 
coal shown on the north slope of Locust Mountain. The first syncli- 
nal axis of the Shamokin coal valley is between Locust Mountain and 
Mount Carmel Ridge ; the second betAveen Mount Carmel Ridge and 
Mine Ridge; the third between Mine Ridge and Coal Run Ridge; the 
fourth between Coal Run Ridge and Big Mountain. 

The anticlinal axis are Mount Carmel, Mine Ridge and Coal Run Ri dge. 
The most complete and beautiful development of the coal strata of 
the anthracite formation of Pennsylvania, is the anticlinal axis of 
Mount Carmel Ridge, developed by the north branch of Shamokin 
Creek. The creek passes thi-ough the axis at a right angle to the run 
of the coal strata, about five hundred yards west from the centre turn- 
pike at Mount Carmel — the arch of sandstone rock is cut down per- 
pendicularly, forming a beautiful curve, and giving an admii-able illus- 
tration of the regularity and perfection of this part of the coal field. 
The anticlinal axis of Mine Ridge is likewise cut by the same stream, 
Jind affords another example of the perfection of the coal strata of the 
Shamokin coal valley. Mine Ridge, from the Centre turnpike, gradu- 
ally rises into a hill of great elevation eastward, where coal veins of 
great thickness and extraordinarily pure quality are opened — a strong 
evidence that this ridge or axis of coal strata, when thoroughly deve- 
loped, will prove to contain mineral in quantity and quality inferior 
to few other places in the anthracite formation of Pennsylvania. 

Big Mountain contains the bottom series of coal veins which crop 
out along its summit. These veins are the same as those developed 
in Locust Mountain, the thickest veins of the anthracite formation. 

The Shamokin coal valley extends in length from its eastern termi- 
nus, on the head waters of Little Schuylkill and Quaquake creeks, to 
its western terminus within about seven miles from the Susquehanna — 
a distance of about fortv miles. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 171 

The eastern terminus of the Shamokin coal valley has two forks of 
coal strata, similar to the forks of the western terminus of the soutli 
anthracite region, but much smaller in j^oint of length and width. 

North of these forks are the detached coal basins of Beaver Meadow, 
Dreck Creek, Ilazleton, Black Creek, Little Black Creek, Sandy Creek, 
and Hell Kitchen, extending one after the other northward to the 
Nescopeck Mountain. The Nescopeck summit is conglomerate, the 
base of the coal formation ; and from it to the Wyoming coal field, 
traces of the coal formation are found — a sufficient evidence that the 
three great divisions of the anthracite formation of Pennsylvania were, 
in former times, a connected and continuous formation of coal strata. 

The Black Creek coal basin, laying about one mile and a half north 
from the Hazleton coal basin collieries, in Luzerne County, has for 
the last few years been attracting much attention, owdng to the ex- 
tensive explorations made by boring and shafting on the Black Creek 
coal estate, where a mammoth vein of coal has been struck and passed 
through, of the thickness of twenty-eight feet, and two other veins, 
one of six and the other of seven feet. These veins of coal are sup- 
posed to underlay the greater part of this estate, and show themselves 
to be of the very best quality. In fact, it is believed by many that 
when the Black Creek coal basin shall be fully developed, it will be 
found one of the richest basins in the Lehigh coal field. This basin, 
as far as the developments extend, would seem to afford to the miner 
easy facilities for taking out the coal, and its proximity to the Ilazle- 
lon Railroad, must in a shoi't time render it of great consideration 
to those who are now the owners of the land. This basin is about 
fifteen miles in length, and has many advantages in procuring sup- 
plies, such as provisions, &c., being but a short distance from the 
beautiful farming district of Conyngham Valley, and only separa- 
ted from it by Buck Mountain. 



172 OFF-HANDSKETCHES. 

The south anthracite region contains white, red, and gray ash coal 
veins. The -NThite ash are found in the Lehigh, the Broad Mountain, 
the Mine Hill, and underlie the Pottsville basin. The principal 
gray ash are in the Peach Mountain range, and the principal red ash 
coal are the south dipping veins of the first synclinal axis. The south 
fork in Dauphin district has, in its eastern end, a semi-bituminous 
coal, which gradually changes, going westward, into a pure bitumi- 
nous. A similar graduated change from an anthracite to a bitumi- 
nous coal is found in the coal formation of Wales, in Great Britain, 
and according to Professor Murchison, in several coal fields in Bussia 
the coal veins which are bituminous at one part of the basin, become 
anthracite at the other. Lykens' Valley district yields coal of a semi- 
bituminous or free burning quality. Argillaceous iron ore, both 
nodular and in seams, is found varying with the coal veins in places 
through the coal region, and black band or carboniferous iron-stone 
is found in the Lykens' Valley district. 

In the middle anthracite region is found white, gray, and red ash 
coal veins. In Big Mountain a superior vein of red ash coal, seven 
feet in thickness, which burns very freely and leaves no clinker, ia 
opened with white ash coal veins above and below it. Red ash coal 
veins are found in other localities in this coal region. Argillaceous 
iron ore in the nodular form, and in regular strata, appears to be in 
abundance through this coal region ; and bog ore exists in large beds 
in various places. Carboniferous iron-stone is likewise found in this 
region, and may ultimately become an article of great value for 
smelting purposes. 

HISTORY OF MINING OPERATIONS. 

Schuylkill District. — Like every other branch of business, the 
mining of coal has undergone many striking changes and improve- 
ments, since its commencement. We have frequent cause for aston- 
ishment, while regarding the progress of improvement in every de- 
partment of busy life ; and although it would seem, standing upon 
the platform of the present, and taking in the whole perspective of 
the past, with its numerous shades, that we have really achieved the 
ne plus ultra of inventive genius ; — still, as the world goes on, new 
enterprises are opened, new feeljngs are instilled, and new desires 
are to be filled : — so that the Jield for thought and scientific knowledge 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



173 



is continually enlarged, and the progress of invention must always 
be proportionably rapid. 

Wlicn openings wore first made for coal in the vicinity of Potts- 
ville, the shafts were sunk to the depth of from twenty to thirty feet, 
and the coal hoisted in large vessels, by means of a common wind- 
lass. As soon as the water became troublesome, which was usually 
the case after penetrating be^'ond thirty feet, the shaft was aban- 
doned, and another sunk, and the same simple process repeated. 

This mode, however, was soon superseded by drifts (or openings 
above water-level, running in with a surface sufEciently inclined to 
drain off the water). Those would be opened at the heads of veins 
upon the hillsides, and the coal brought out in wheel-barrows ; but 




FIGURE 51. 

it was not until 1827 that railways were introduced into mines, and 
from that period until 1834 drifts were the only mode pursued for 
mining coal. 

In the meantime, various experiments had been made for the use 
of shafts, the principal one of which was the substitution of horse- 
power and the gin, for the windlass, by which means the miners could 
clear the water from the shaft with greater fiicility, and penetrate 
somewhat farther down on the veins. But with this great improve- 
ment, as it was then regarded, they were enabled to run down on the 
vein for but a comparatively short distance, and the coal was, of 
course, inferior; for experience has since demonstrated that the crop 
of the coal is never equal to that taken out at lower depths, where 
the roof and floor have attained the regularity and hardness so neces- 
sary for effective labor and good coal. 

At the period to which wo have alluded, there was a total and per- 
fect absence of every convenience which is now deemed necessary for 
mining operations. The country itself was, we were about to say, 
uninviting; but such we never could have esteemed it. There 
15* 



174 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

never teas a more grand, picturesque region, beautiful at all seasons 
grand in all eyes, precious to the man of science, the capitalist, and 
to the whole world of business. But if it bo wild and beautiful iioic, 
when jealous art has despoiled it somewhat of its wild aspect ; 
stripped the mountains of their gaudy foliage, and levelled the vene- 
rable and sturdy forest trees to the earth, with here and there a few 
remaining, stripped of bark and branches, as if intended for monu- 
ments to their j^erished fellows ; what must it not have been when 
the hoAvls of wild beasts echoed in the solitary depths of the 
woods ; in the deep ravines and mountain-passes until then unex- 
plored by man ? The country then, clothed in its rich spring garb, 
fi'agrant with its wild-flowers, musical with its numerous streams, 
majestic with its frowning crags and precipices, in its general range 
resembled the green ocean " into tempest tossed," and its primitive 
silence was the sleep of nature, when, like a miser, she had finished 
burying her treasures ! 

But what we wished to convey is, that the country at this period 
was destitute of those conveniences for sustaining life, and for carry- 
ing on a regular business, which are rightfully looked for by the 
laborer. The only mode of transporting coal from the mine, was by 
common wagons, over roads at all seasons bad, and through a country 
in which, from its mountainous character and wild state, the horse 
was enabled to accomplish but little, in comparison with what could 
be done in a level and more improved country. 

But notwithstanding these difficulties, the work was still pursued, 
and that most assiduously. The prices commanded by coal afibrded 
but a scanty pittance to the laborers employed, without insuring the 
least profit to the owner of the lands. Previously, the inha])itants 
of the country subsisted entirely by their skill in hunting. Every 
species of game was plenty, and the skins of bears, wolves, wild 
cats, foxes, &c., as well as the quarters of deers, and birds, were 
eagerly sought in the country and towns adjacent. The hunters, few 
in number, lived in rude cabins far from each other, and there was 
scarcely a path, in the rugged state of the country, by which the 
steps of the stranger could be directed. All the coal mined anterior 
to 1818, was mostly sold to blacksmiths in the surrounding coun- 
try ; for to haul it away for fuel, while wood was still plenty, could 
not be afi'orded nor justified by the economist. 

Although the Schuylkill Navigation, as previously stated, had been 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 175 

completed in 1818, its facilities for transporting coal were not of such 
character as to warrant the mining of any considerable quantity. 
Having been thrown out of repair, time after time, by freshets, its 
use could by no means be relied upon, and thus, from 1818 to 1825, 
the trade, if it may l)e said to have had existence at all, was so 
extremely limited and uncertain in its general features and prospects, 
that little attention was bestowed upon it. The whole extent of the 
trade of the anthracite regions, from this period to 1824, did not 
exceed twenty thousand tons. In 1825, (the year following,) this 
amount was nearly doubled, of which the quantity sent down the 
Schuylkill was six thousand five hundred tons ; that of the Lehigh 
twenty-eight thousand one hundred tons, and of the Susquehanna no 
account has been kept. 

From this year, therefore, the existence of the Schuylkill trade 
may be dated — that of the Lehigh having commenced five years 
previously. 

The introduction of railways into this region, which occurred in 
1827, is, perhaps, one of the most important epochs in its history. 
The natural arrangement of the country is admirably adapted for 
o-rading and laying down railways, and it was on this account that 
their introduction was more welcome. The coal seams crop out by 
the sides of the mountains, and the valleys between them, usually 
affording small streams, allow sufficient descent to convey the loaded 
cars to the head of navigation. The distinguished credit of having 
been the first person who erected a railway in this region, is, we 
believe, assigned to the late Abraham Pott, who constructed one 
over half a mile in length, leading from his mines, east of Port 
Carbon, to the navigation at that place. 

Their subsequent introduction into drifts, by which the cars were 
drawn in the mines by mules, gave a new impulse to the business, 
and greatly added to the capacity of each operator. In 1826 the 
amount shipped was nearly seventeen thousand tons, and in 1827 it 
was over thirty-one thousand tons. In 1828 it reached forty-seven 
thousand, in 1829 seventy-nine thousand, 1830 eighty-nine thou- 
sand, and in 1831 eighty-one thousand tons. 

During this period coal was being generally used in stoves, in the 
more populous towns ; and after the grate was introduced into them, 
which was accomplished more or less successfully- between the years 
1827 and 1831, the trade began to assume an imposing and gigantic 



176 OFT- HANDS KETCHES. 

attitude. For no sooner had the people become familiar with the pe- 
culiar properties of the coal, than its vast future importance in the 
arts and manufactures was readily acknowledged. 

In 1826 and '27 large accessions had been made to the population 
and business of the region. The Schuylkill Navigation had been 
placed in excellent repair, and interruptions in its navigation were 
no longer experienced. This happy state of affairs continued until 
1829, when a momentary pause was made in the trade, but it was 
a pause prophetic only of still greater triumphs, of busier scenes, 
and of more active life. It was at this period that scenes of excite- 
ment, speculation, and daring enterprise were enacted, which sur- 
prised and startled our good old Commonwealth from its Quaker 
propriety. Capitalists awoke, as if from a dream, and wondered that 
they had never before realized the importance of the anthracite 
trade ! AVhat appeared yesterday but as a fly, now assumed the gi- 
gantic proportions of an elephant ! The capitalist who, but a few 
years previously, laughed at the infatuation of the daring pioneers of 
the coal trade, now coolly ransacked his papers, and cyphered out his 
available means, and whenever met on the street, his hand and 
pockets would be filled with plans of towns, of surveys of coal 
lands, and calculations and specifications of railways, canals, and 
divers other improvements until now unheard of! The land w^hich 
yesterday would not have commanded the taxes levied upon it, was 
now looked upon as " dearer than Plutarch's mine, richer than 
gold." Sales were made to a large amount, and in an incredibly short 
space of time, it is estimated that upwards oi five millions of dollars 
had been invested in lands in the Schuylkill coal field alone ! La- 
borers and mechanics of all kinds, and from all quarters and nations, 
flocked to the coal region, and found ready and constant employment 
at the most exorbitant wages. Capitalists, arm-in-arm with confiden- 
tial advisers, civil engineers, and grave scientific gentlemen, explored 
every recess, and solemnly contemplated the present and future value 
and importance of each particular spot. Houses could not be built 
fast enough, for where nought but bushes and rubbish were seen one 
day, a smiling village would be discovered on the morrow. Enter- 
prising carpenters in Philadelphia, and elsewhere along the line of 
canal, prepared the timber and frame-work of houses, and then 
placing the material on board a canal boat, would hasten on to the 
enchanted spot to dedicate it to its future purposes. Thus lohole toivm 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 177 

were arriving in the returning canal boats, and as " they were 
forced to play the owl," a moonlight night was a god-send to the im- 
patient proprietors, for with the dawning of the morning would be 
reflected the future glory of the new town, and the restless visages 
of scores of anxious lessees ! 

The days of speculation, however, were not terminated in '29 ; 
and a few words more remain to be said concerning them. Many 
persons who had purchased lands, moved thither with their families, 
designing to take up their permanent abode in the region, and pursue 
the mining business regularly, as they would farming, or any other 
calling. But, in a majority of cases, the lands were purchased in 
large tracts, by companies formed for the purpose, and these, as well 
as many tracts held by single individuals, were leased out to tenants. 
These joint-stock companies, or those composed of citizens of other 
States, obtained charters for the mining of coal from the Legislatures 
of their respective States, and thus evaded the statutes of mortmain 
in force here ; and the lands owned by them were held by deeds of 
trust, and wore thus used and occupied. But no sooner were compa- 
nies chartered by the Legislature of this State, than a general law was 
passed escheating the lands of companies formed under charters not 
granted by this State, and held without its license and consent. This 
was done in 1833, when the trade had partially recovered from the 
speculations of the previous 3'ears. 

It was under such circumstances as these that a vast amount of 
capital had been expended in the region, not only in the improvement 
of the lands, and the fiicilities for raining coal, but in the construction 
of railways and similar improvements, of the most stupendous char- 
acter. 

In contemplating these times, though we cannot but laugh at the 
ludicrous scenes they present, all will admit that they were the indirect 
and direct means of accomplishing incalculable benefit to the whole 
country. Nor was it possible, under the circumstances, to restrain 
the fever of speculation. The real value and resources of the lands 
were comparatively unknown, and in the hands of those who had no 
intention of " piercing the bowels of the earth, and bringing forth 
from the caverns of mountains treasures which shall give strength to 
our hands, and subject all nature to our use and pleasure," a ficti- 
tious value could not but be placed upon them. Calculations were 
cunningly made of the number oi square yarch of coal in an acre, and 

X 



178 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

the quantity each acre was capable of yielding, without considering 
the labor and expense necessary to mine it, or without knowing in 
fact that it contained coal at all, and exhibiting such calculations, in 
glaring and bond fide figures, to the bewildered capitalists, land would 
sell for one hundred dollars an acre to-day ; to-morrow for three 
hundred, and then for five hundred dollars. And when, at last, the 
tracts were cut up into small parcels, to suit the means of the pur- 
chaser, they would presently be esteemed as beautiful locations for 
towns, and straightway plans were laid out on paper, elegantly 
printed and colored ; and, finally, the whole would wind up with a 
sale of " valuable town lots" — lying, perhaps, in the heart of a 
swamp, a forest, oV upon the brow of a mountain. This last opera- 
tion would frequently prove the " noblest Roman of them all ;" for 
although the purchaser might have paid five hundred dollars per acre 
for the whole plot, he would realize the whole of that sum on a single 
" corner-lot," and if he could make five or six hundred lots, there 
would be no such thing as estimating his profits ! 

We shall dismiss this subject with a single remark. The speculat- 
ing mania had involved hundreds of persons in utter ruin ; and 
there were few persons of fortune who now ventured, voluntarily and 
alone, into the mining business. Companies were formed, not only 
for the purchase of the lands, but also for conducting mining opera- 
tions upon them ; and it was thus hoped, that by concentrating the 
lands and business of the region into the hands of a few, whose com- 
bined capital and influence could silence individual competition, 
the trade could be made obedient to their wild schemes. Coal had 
already been universally adopted ; and by withholding supplies when 
they were absolutely needed, it was thought that it could be made to 
command from eight to twelve dollars a ton; and then, the price 
being thus established, another series of " calculations" of the value 
of each particular acre of coal land, and fresh ground for specula- 
tions, would be laid open. Advocates for coal companies were con- 
sequently not lacking, and many were chartered by the Legislature. 
But the practical experience of those interested in the trade soon 
awakened a powerful opposition to them, and this feeling has existed 
from very nearly the commencement of the trade to the present 
time. It was especially active from 1831 to 1839, during which the 
trade had thrice fallen ofi", in the gross amount of the annual product, 
from the years respectively preceding ; and during the whole of which 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 179 

period, the influence of the public journals in the coal regions was 
directly arrayed against them. The country, through such aid, was 
happily saved from the calamities which threatened the trade, and 
which did much, during this period, to retard its annual growth. 

ANTHRACITE FOR SMELTING IRON. 

Nothing worthy of special notice occurred in the progress of the anthracite 
trade, until 1838, 1839, and 1840. It was during this period, that the attention of 
intelligent and enterprising citizens was called to the practicability of using an- 
thracite coal for the smelting of iron ore. Dr. Weisenheimer, of New York, 
had, in the latter part of 1838, and before similar results had been obtained, or 
at least promulgated in Europe, secured a patent for smelting iron with anthra- 
cite and hot blastj but Mr. Crane, having about this time succeeded in a series 
of experiments in Wales, having in view the same object, is understood to have 
purchased the claims of Dr. W., which were as follows: First: In the appli- 
cation of anthracite coal, exclusively or in part, for deoxidating and carbonating 
iron ore. Second : The application of anthracite coal, exclusively or in part, in 
combining iron in a metallic state, with a greater quantity of carbon ; if bar- 
iron, for steel; if pig or cast-iron, for a superior quality, &c. Third : The 
smelting or reducing of iron-ore, so deoxidated and carbonated by the applica- 
tion of anthracite coal as aforesaid, into pig or cast-iron. Fourth : The refining 
or converting of iron ore, so deoxidated or carbonated by the application of an- 
thracite coal, as aforesaid, into malleable or bar iron. Fifth : The application 
of anthracite coal as a fuel, in smelting or reducing iron ore raw or roasted, but 
not prepared by a separate process of deoxidation and carbonation, as above 
described, into pig or cast iron. Sixth : Though not claiming an exclusive right 
of the use of heated air for any kind of fuel, nevertheless he claimed the use of 
heated air, applied upon and in connection with the said principle and method 
discovered by him to smelt iron ore in blast furnaces, with anthracite coal, by 
applying a blast of air in such quantity, velocity and density, or under such pres- 
sure as the compactness or density, and the continuity of the anthracite coal 
requires, as above described, &c. 

As soon as this transfer was effected, Mr. Crane obtained a patent in this 
country, which differed slightly from Dr. W.'s. But it was several months 
anterior to the dates of both these patents that a furnace had been blown in at 
Mauch Chunk, which used anthracite as fuel, and this enterprise was followed 
in a short time after by a more extensive and successful one at Pottsville. In 
consequence of this, and in view of the certainty of litigation, Mr. Crane never 
insisted upon an observance of his claims by priority of discovery, but, as wo arc 
informed, published a card, formally renouncing them. 

Experiments for using anthracite coal in blast furnaces had been made at 
Mauch Chunk in 1830, by the Lehigh coal company; and up to the period of 



180 orr-HAND sketches. 

Mr. Crane's method, vast sums of money had been expended, from time to time, 
in different parts of Europe, to efifect the same object, but every attempt proved 
unsuccessful. The thing had been almost entirely abandoned as impracticable, 
when the great secret seems to have been imparted simultaneously in Europe 
and America — for while Mr. Crane was rejoicing over his triumphs in Wales, 
three enterprising gentlemen of Reading were repairing and blowing in their 
furnace at Mauch Chunk — and if not the very one previously abandoned, it was 
the ground, at least, which had sustained a former defeat ! 

From a letter, by Mr. Lawthrop, dated at Beaver Meadows, to Prof. Walter 
R. Johnson, of Philadelphia, we gather the following interesting particulars 
concerning this first application of anthracite coal for smelting purposes : The 
experiments, says Mr. L., were made by Messrs. Joseph Baughman, Julius 
Guiteau and Henry High, of Reading, in an old furnace which was temporarily 
fitted up for the purpose. They used about eight per cent, of anthracite, and 
the result was such as to surprise those who witnessed it, (for it was considered 
as an impossibility, even by iron masters,) and amply sufficient to encourage 
those engaged in it to go on. In order, therefore, to test the matter more thor- 
oughly, they built a furnace on a small scale, near the Mauch Chunk weigh- 
lock, which was completed during the month of July, 1839. The dimensions, &c., 
were as follows : stack, 21^2 feet high, 22 feet square at the base j boshes, b/i feet 
across; hearth, 14 by 16 inches in the square, and 4 feet by 9 inches from the 
dam stone to the back. The blowing apparatus consisted of 2 cylinders, each 
G feet diameter; a receiver, same diameter, and about 2}4 feet deep; stroke 11 
inches — each piston making from 12 to 15 strokes per minute. An overshot 
water-wheel, diameter 14 feet; length of bucket, 314 feet; number of buckets, 
36 ; revolutions per minute, from 12 to 15. 

The blast was applied August 27th, and the furnace kept in blast until Sep- 
tember 10th, when they were obliged to stop in consequence of the apparatus 
for heating the blast proving to be too temporary. Several tons of iron were 
produced of Nos. 2 and 3 quality. Temperature of the blast did not exceed 
200" Fahrenheit — the proportion of anthracite used not remembered. 

A new and good apparatus for heating the blast was next procured, (at which 
time Mr. Lowthrop became personally interested in the works,) consisting of 
' 200 feet in length, of cast iron pipes, IH inches thick; it was placed in a brick 
chamber, at the runnel head, and heated by a flame issuing thence. 

The blast was again applied about the last of November, 1839, and the furnace 
worked remarkably well for five weeks, exclusively with anthracite coal; they 
were then obliged, for want of ore, to blow out on the 12th of January, 1839. 
During this experiment, says Mr. L., our doors were open to the public, and we 
were watched very closely both night and day — for men could hardly believe 
what they saw with their own eyes, so incredulous was the public in regard to 
the matter at that time. Some iron masters expressed themselves astonished, 
that a furaace could work whilst using unburnt, unwaehed, frozen ore, such as 
was put into our furnace. The amount of iron produced was about VA tons pet 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 181 

day, when working best, of Nos. 1, 2, and 3 quality — the temperature of the 
blast being still about 400° Fahreulieit. 

The following season the hearth was enlarged to 19 by 21 inches, and 5 feet 
3 inches from the dam stone to the back of hearth ; and on July 26th, the fur- 
nace was again put in blast, and continued in blast until December, lS-10, a few 
days after the dissolution of the firm, when it was blown out in good order. 
For about three months no other kind than anthracite was used, and the product 
was about 100 tons of iron, good Nos. 1, 2, and 3 quality. When working best, 
the furnace produced about two tons per day. Temperature of the blast was 
from 400 to 600<> Fahrenheit. 

The following ores were used: "pipe" ore, from Miller's mine, near Allen- 
town; "brown hematite," commonly called to;? nitne, or iron-face ore; "rock" 
ore, from Dickerson's mine, in New Jersey ; and " Williams township" ore, in 
Northampton county. The last mentioned ore produced a very strong iron, and 
when it is considered that these experiments were conducted under circum- 
stances wholly unfavorable, and that the furnace and machinery were thor- 
oughly defective, the results obtained may be viewed as being in the highest 
degree satisfactory. 

In December, 1S40, this furnace was blown out, the work discontinued, and 
the firm dissolved. The furnace at Pottsville having at this time been in- ope- 
ration, and its performances having been decidedly superior, the credit of first 
sitcccssfiiUi/ introducing anthracite coal for smelting purposes has been very 
justly claimed by the citizens of that place. For although the furnace at Mauch 
Chunk had overcome many difiiculties, its abandonment so soon was by many 
regarded as prima facia evidence of failure — while the other has continued in 
operation, with short intervals, to a very recent period. It is still standing, and 
under a favorable aspect of the iron market, might probably be again worked 
with profit. 

The Pottsville furnace was completed, and put in blast on the 26th of October, 
1839, under the direction of the celebrated Mr. Perry. This gentleman, who 
had frequently visited Mr. Crane in Wales, and was familiar with the process 
adopted by him, declared that the performances of this furnace more than 
equalled those obtained by that gentleman. They were, therefore, esteemed as 
in the highest degree successful, and an intelligent iron master, (Hon. Dr. 
Eckert,) who had observed its workings, declared that it had triumphed over 
difficulties and accidents, during the first fortnight of its existence, which would 
have chilled up any charcoal works over and over again ! The hearth was 
tapped night and morning, and the yield at each time varied from sixty to sixty- 
three pigs, equal to about three tons of metal. It is an all-important fact, that 
in charging the stack, nothing but pure anthracite coal and iron ore was used. 
Not a scrap of old metal, wood or charcoal was used, except for the mere pur- 
pose of first ignition. 

The erection of this furnace was mainly accomplished through the efforts of 
Burd Patterson, Esq., who, from the earliest history of this region, has been 
16 



182 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

identified with every measure of its onward progress. He is still a resident of 
Pottsville, and, as heretofore, stands connected with all new and praiseworthj 
enterprises. 

In January, 1840, the furnace having now performed successfully for three 
months, a deputation, consisting of the late Nicholas Biddle, Thomas Biddle, 
Isaac Lea, Jesse Richards, J. M. Sanderson, and Dr. B. Kugler, visited Potts- 
ville to inspect the iron-works, and to award a prize of five thousand dollars, 
subscribed by certain influential citizens of Pennsylvania, to be presented to the 
individual who would, within a specified time, succeed in smelting a certain 
amount of iron' ore, with anthracite coal, &c. This prize was accordingly 
awarded to the proprietor of the Pottsville furnace, and therefore settles the 
question as to the person and place entitled to the credit of having first suc- 
ceeded in this important enterprise. 

The celebration of this event was a happy and brilliant affair, and it was not 
long ere the Union was filled with the importance of the achievement thus 
commemorated. The committee were invited to a dinner at the Mount Carbon 
House, and a toast, complimental to the distinguished gentlemen composing it, 
having been offered, Mr. N. Biddle responded to it in behalf of his colleagues, 
in a speech of great practical learning and profound eloquence, at the conclu- 
sion of which he offered the following toaat : 

" Old Pennsylvania — Her sons, like her soil, a rough outside, but solid stuff 
within ,• plenty of coal to warm her friends, plenty of iron to cool her 
enemies." 

The Pottsville Furnace was soon followed by another in the vicinity, called the 
Valley Furnace. This was put in blast, September 17, 18-tl, and "succeeded 
admirably from the first moment of its action." It used the ore found upon the 
ground. 

At the latter end of 18-42, after the passage of the tariff act of that year, an- 
thracite furnaces began very rapidly to multiply. In the following year they 
were found in full blast, and others going into operation, in almost every county 
in the State, where coal and iron ore were at all accessible. The number con- 
tinued annually to increase, at an astonishing rate, until the passage of the 
present tariff law, which has thus far had a very disastrous effect upon this 
branch of American industry. It will not be long, however, before we recover 
all the strength that has been lost or impaired during the last few years, for such 
is the enterprise of our citizens that they icill produce, notwithstanding the 
competition of their British rivals. 

Until the year 1740, iron was made in England almost exclusively with char- 
coal, and prior to that period none of the iron stones of the coal region were 
used; but as soon as the iron manufacturers found it necessary to locate them- 
selves in the coal region for the purpose of being convenient to the new kind of 
fuel they were about to adopt, they found the necessity of searching for 
ore nearer their works than the magnetic ores that they had been in the habit 
of using were ; the result was, that an abundance of excellent ore was dis- 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 183 

covered in the coal regions in the immediate vicinity of their works, and al- 
though it did not yield so high a per ccnt^ge of iron as the magnetic ores, they 
found it more profitable than transporting richer ores from a distance. 

With regard to this region, a like result has been experienced ; for it was not 
until after the erection of the furnace at this place, that any investigations had 
been instituted as to whether iron ore was to be obtained or not. But no sooner 
had explorations commenced than new and large deposits of iron ore were found 
daily, and the ore pronounced to be of an excellent quality. Mr. Benj. Perry, 
the intelligent anthracite founder, has \'isited several of these mines, and gave it 
as his opinion that any number of furnaces could be supplied with ore for an 
indefinite time. 

In comparing the ores of this country with those of England and Wales, we 
find the average richness to be nearly the same; but we have a decided 
and important advantage in the thickness of the veins, many of which being 
upwards of three feet thick, and from that down to six inches. The average 
richness of the ores taken from the coal regions of England and Wales, is about 
.33 per cent. The average richness of eight specimens of ore, taken from the 
Pottsville coal region, was 33-18 of metallic ore. These specimens were analysed 
under the direction of Prof. Kogers, late State Geologist — some of them yield- 
ing 39, 38, and 37 per cent., and all taken from different veins. Prof. R. in his 
fourth annual report to the Legislature of this State, speaking of these ores, 
says : " Especial care has been taken to submit to chemical examination, such 
specimens onhj as represent the average character of their respective beds — 
choosing those freshly opened in the mines, or in some deep excavation, and 
rejecting, as far as possible, samples gathered from the outcrop, or found loose 
on the surface: as they invariably contain too high a per centage to prove a fair 
criterion," &c. 

The presence of inexhaustible supplies of coal and iron ore, suggests an im- 
portant advantage in the comparatively limited capital necessary to carry on 
iron works. For while iron masters in other sections of country are compelled, 
at all seasons, to keep on hand a large supply of coal and ore, no such necessity 
would exist here. Supplies could be procured in small quantities, as desired, for 
immediate use, and the necessity of buying large quantities at high prices, is 
thus entirely overcome. The same argument holds good, as regards means of 
transportation, and speedy and cheap access to market. While iron works at 
many places have no avenue to market during the winter, and are consequently 
compelled to retain a large stock of their manufactured product on hand — the 
manufacturer here could send it to market in such quantities, and at such times 
as the demand might justify. 

We may next consider the cheapness of the fuel, as well as of the ores used. 
For the former, the fine refuse coal that has been crowding our mines and land- 
ings for years past, is now brought into use for generating steam and heating 
the blast, and besides answering admirably the purpose, it is afforded free of 
charge, and delivered to the furnace by the coal operators, so anxious are they 



184 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

to get rid of the large quantities annually accumulated about their premises. 
This, it will be granted, is an important consideration. 

There is another consideration, with regard to those locations where the ad- 
vantages, in some instances, consist merely or principally in being in the im- 
mediate vicinity of the ore. After the smelting of the ore into pig metal is 
accomplished, no more ore is required; but in the process of making bar-iron, 
about four tons of coal are necessary to manufacture one ton of the latter, so 
that, independent of the saving in the cost of making pig metal in the coal 
region, the saving in converting it into bar-iron, at a large rolling mill, would 
be immense. 

The middle anthracite region, as we are assured by our friend, William F. 
Roberts, holds out inducements of the most favorable character for the invest- 
ment of capital, in all the branches of iron making and iron manufactures. The 
coal is of superior quality, and may be mined at very low rates. Its iron ore is 
rich and in abundance, while it has other important facilities for iron-making 
establishments to operate with the greatest economy and profit. 

The lands of the Dauphin Coal Company, we may add, are also admirably 
calculated to sustain extensive iron establishments. Taking in view the admi- 
rable outlets to market, and the peculiar character of the coal, and richness of 
the iron ore, they may be said to enjoy unequalled advantages for this branch 
of manufactures. 

PROCESSES OF MINING COAL. 

We shall now resume the subject of mining, and briefly allude to 
some of the principal improvements lately introduced. 

After the introduction of railways, there seems to have been little 
done in the way of improvements, to facilitate the operation of mining. 
But without tracing, in regular order, the introduction of each new 
feature, as the present is contradistinguished from the past, we shall 
at once proceed to explain the modus operandi of mining, as observed 
in the present day. 

In the first place, it may be necessary to premise that the rajige of 
all the coal veins in the Schuylkill basin is east and west, converging 
to the eastward, and diverging westward, with such slight variation 
from the general rule, as not to be worthy of notice. The dip of the 
veins is to the south : and their angle of inclination from the horizon 
varies from 30° to 40° parallel, in all cases, with the surrounding 
strata. From 1833 the number of operations below water-level has 
annually increased, in a regular per centage with the increase of the 
trade. As they are the most extensive, and would, perhaps, prove 
most interesting to the stranger, we shall now describe the minutise 
uf which they are comprised. 



A X T 11 II A C I T E COAL FORMATION. 



185 




FIG. 52. — VIEW OF A COAL SLOPE. 



When a vein of coal is being worked below water-level, a steam- 
engine and pumps are necessary to raise up the accumulated water in 
the mine ; for helow water-level means, simply, that the coal is being 
mined at some point helow the bed of the adjacent river, creek, or 
rivulet. The first step to be taken at the commencement of an ope- 
ration of this kind, is to ascertain where the vein crops out to the sur- 
face, or so near to the surface as to be easily found, from a previous 
knowledge of the range of the vein. A favorable location must then 
be selected, twenty or thirty feet to the northward of the crop of the 
vein, for the location of a stationary steam-engine. This must be 
•where a sufficiency of water can be had for the supply of the steam- 
boilers ; and if not near to a main railroad, prudence will dictate that 
it must be so situated that a branch or lateral road can be laid down 
near the place where the engine is to be erected. The descent into 
the mine is called a Slope, and thus those mines below water-level, 
called Slopes, are contradistinguished from those above water-level, 
called Drifts. Engines erected for the purpose of hoisting the coal 
up the Slope, and pumping the water out of the mine, are usually of 
the capacity of from forty, fifty, and sixty horse-power, nearly all 
16* Y 



186 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



horizontal high-pressure, and working with a slide-valve. They are 
generally built in a very neat, simj^le, as well as a strong and efficient 
manner, and invariably by the mechanics of the coal region. 

The location of the engine being determined upon, a slope, or in- 
clined plane, must be driven down in the vein, and consequently at 
the same angle of inclination. The thickness of the vein is usually 
excavated, and the slope must be sufficiently wide to admit of two 
railway tracks, from thirty-six to forty inches wide each, to be laid 
down ; with room, also, for the pumps on one side, (and sometimes 
both sides) and travelling road on the other side (or sometimes between 




FIG. 53. — GROUND-PLAN OF A COAL MINE. 

the two railway tracks) for the miners and laborers — the whole width 
of the slope being usually from eighteen to twenty-two feet. The 
slope is driven down about two hundred feet for the Jirst level, at the 
bottom of which the gangicays are commenced, running at right- 
angles from the slope, east and west in the vein, and are continued at 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 187 

distances discretionary with the operator, or to the extremity of his 
mining limits. The slope and gangways form a capital T. The gang- 
ways are frequently driven one, two, or three miles, with turnouts at 
intervals for trains to pass each other. They are made about seven 
feet high, and sufficiently wide to admit a railroad track to be laid 
down, on which a well loaded car, having from one to two tons of coal, 
may pass freely. (Fig. 53. The gangways are indicated by the letter 
c, on the left.) The cars are hauled to and fro by horses or mules ; the 
latter being preferred, as well because of their diminutive size as for 
their stamina. The gangways being driven in a sufficient distance 
from the bottom of the slope, the next thing is to commence digging 
out or milling the coal. The coal in the vein is left undisturbed on 
each side of the slope to a distance of thirty or forty feet east and 
west, and extending all the way up the surface ; the coal thus left, in 
mining phraseology, is called pillars, and is suffered to remain for the 
purpose of strengthening or supporting the slope ; as in an extensive 
mine and in a good vein its use may be required for a great number 
of years. A pillar of coal of some twenty feet in width is also left all 
along the upper side of the gangway; and above this pillar, and up to 
the surface, all the coal is worked out. The plan of working adopted 
by miners is this : two miners and a laborer generally work a-breast, 
(the excavated squares, indicated by the letter h, are breasts where 
the coal is being worked out,) like the swarth of a cradler in the har- 
vest field, usually from thirty to forty feet in width from the pillar 
above the gangway up to the surface. They make an opening from 
the gangway through the pillar above, about where the centre of the 
breast will be, of four or five feet wide, for a skute ; after which the 
full extent of the breast is opened out, and the shute continued up 
the centre, down which the coal slides into a car in the gangway. 
When the coal is dug out, the roof is supported by props of timber, 
placed at a distance from each other, varying from six to eight or ten 
feet, as the roof may be found to be substantial or indifferent. The 
seams of coal vary from two to twenty-five feet in thickness, (rarely 
exceeding the latter figure). Those of from six to ten feet are con- 
sidered best, as they can be worked with greater facility and profit. 
They can be so propped and roofed as to enable the miner to take 
out every particle of coal, without the slightest danger of accident ; 
while those of greater thickness must be worked in chambers, and 
large pillars of coal left standing to support the roof; and even then 



188 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

the miner is exposed to danger from the detached pieces falling 
down continually. 

From ten to fifty of these breasts are worked simultaneously up to 
the surface ; after which, if the gangway is far enough extended, new 
ones are commenced, and the same operation repeated, until all the 
coal on that level is worked out. When this is done, the slope must 
again be driven down some two or three hundred feet ; gangways 
again opened, railways laid down, and the same process of mining 
the coal continued. And thus the miner gradually gets deeper and 
deeper into the bowels of the earth, and to reward his industry and 
perseverance, nature has provided the purest and best coal low down, 
so that the farther down he ventures, the better and richer becomes 
his reward ! 

The deeper the mine, however, the more difficulty is experienced 
in keeping the works properly supplied with fresh and wholesome 
air ; and nothing but long practical experience can furnish a thorough 
knowledge of this very important branch of the mining business. We 
shall reserve some remarks which we intend to offer on this subject, 
for the conclusion of the present article. 

Going now to the shutes in the gangway, we find cars loaded with 
coal. A mule, which is in most cases used, will draw three or four of 
these loaded cars to the foot of the slope, where they are left, and 
empty cars hauled back to be loaded. One of the loaded cars is then 
pushed upon a turning platform, by a person stationed there for that 
purpose ; he places the car fairly for the railroad track in the slope, 
attaches the chain to it, draws the pull of the bell as a signal to in- 
form those above that " all is ready," and it is hoisted up the slope 
by the engine, while an empty car descends, at the same time, on the 
other track. The car of coal being now brought to the top, it is un- 
hitched, pushed aside, and an empty car pushed into its place, hooked 
to the chain, and, a loaded car being now attached on the other track, 
the bell is again rung, and the empty car descends and the loaded one 
ascends, as before. This hoisting and lowering of cars is always 
going on with despatch during the day-time, and sometimes during 
the whole night, there being often two sets of hands and miners, one for 
the day and the other for the night. The time usually occupied for 
bringing up a car is about one minute, which includes attaching to 
and detaching the car from the chain, &c. Where from one to two 
hundred tons of coal are prepared and shipped daily, (besides the 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 



189 



refuse and accumulated rubbish of the mine, ^vhich must be brought 
up,) it AviU be seen that it forms one of the most important features 

in mining. 

The next feature in mining is that of preparing the coal for market, 
that is, cleaning it from the slate and earthy matter that sometimes is 
mised with it, and breaking it in suitable sizes for the various pur- 
poses required. The coal dirt, consisting of small particles of coal 




FIG. 54. — COAL BREAKER. 

and slate, besides various kinds of earthy matter excavated in the 
mine, is hauled out and deposited in heaps along the sides of the hills, 
where it sometimes forms large elevations. The loaded coal cars, 
■which are here represented as coming from a drift, or a mine above 
water-level, are seen on the left, running, by a slight inclination, to 
the Coal Breaker, which is represented in fig. 54. To fully retain 
the idea, the loaded cars are seen coming out of the mine, and going 
directly to the Breaker works. The Breaker machinery is, of course, 
erected as near to the mouth of the mine as local circumstances will 
admit, and considerable elevation is necessary in order to break and 
prepare the coal at as little expense as possible. The side of a hill is 
therefore preferred, as a railroad to conduct the coal from the mouth 
of the mine to the Breaker can easily be constructed, and will thus 
avoid the expense of ropes for an inclined-plane, upon which to haul 
up the loaded cars. 

The Breakers are all turned by steam, with but a few exceptions, 
where water is at hand. An engine of twelve or fifteen horse-power 



190 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

is requisite for driving the Breaker, and turning the circular screens, 
and they are built on the same plan as the larger engines used at 
Slopes for hoisting up the cars and pumping out the water. Th« 
Breaker-rollers are of cast-iron, placed in very strong, compact frame- 
work, and turned by means of a leather belt and gearing-wheels. The 
most approved rollers are those perforated between the teeth, being an 
improvement on the former solid periphery-rollers originally invented, 
inasmuch as there is thus less solid surface presented to the coal in 
breaking, and, consequently, less crushing and wastage of the coal. 
The loaded car being brought to the head of the Breaker, it is dumped, 
and the coal falls into a small shute, from which it flows into the 
Breaker. The coal thus passes between the revolving rollers, whose 
projecting ieetli break it into pieces of all sizes. From the rollers, the 
broken coal falls into screens, which also revolve, and having four or 
five sections of network of different sizes, the diflFerent sizes of the 
coal are thus assorted, falling out of the interstices of the screen into 
shutes below, which are indicated in fig. 54, as hanging directly over 
the cars. The coal screen was one of the most important inventions 
of the day. Previously to the introduction of Breakers, the coal was 
screened by hand. The screen was from 5 to 8 feet long, and from 
If to 2\ feet in diameter, and placed in a frame, slightly inclined. As 
the coal entered the more elevated end, the screen was turned round 
by hand, like a grindstone. When Breakers were introduced, the 
screens, as previously, were constructed of bar iron, riveted on frame 
work. But great trouble and expense were experienced, from their 
liability to break, and the difficulty of repairing them, the whole work 
being necessarily stopped until this was accomplished. Attention 
was soon attracted to the subject, and it was not long ere mechanical 
ingenuity suggested a remedy. A machine was invented by a citizen 
of Pottsville, by which the largest and thickest wire is wrought into 
shape suitable for weaving, which is done by very heavy and improved 
machinery. Wire as thick as an ordinary ram-rod is crimped by this 
process, which merely consists of a heavy hammer, suspended in 
frame-work, which is made to fall upon the wire, placed under it, 
upon a surface allowing it to receive the particular hend desired, after 
which it is woven into frames of about three feet square. These 
frames are then placed over a large wooden cylinder, and rounded, 
when two or more sections are pointed and riveted together, which 
completes their circular form. The screen, thus complete, is removed 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 



191 



from the bench, and joined with another of the same dimensions, but 
of larger or smaller net-work. These screens are remarkably dura- 
ble, and are not the least feature which has tended to bring coal 
Breakers into universal use. 

This process for crimping thick iron wire has introduced several 
new and important objects of manufacture, such as iron wire portable 
bedsteads, fences and ornamental railings, chairs, sofas, &c. 




FIG. 55. — IHOX RAILING. 



Walker & Son, at the corner of Sixth and Market streets, Philadel- 
phia, have a very extensive establishment exclusively devoted to the 
production of these articles, which, at no distant day, will supersede 
most of the same articles now made of wood. 

After the coal leaves the screen and falls into its appropriate 
shutes, railroad cars are hauled immediately along side the openings, 
which, being raised up like the wickets in a mill dam, the coal falls 
out into the car, and when a sufficient quantity is obtained, the shute 
is closed, and then the coal leaves forever the scenes of its past his- 
tory, and is borne oflf to its future destiny. 

The size of chain generally used for hoisting coal is three-fourths 
and seven-eighths of an inch ; formerly smaller chains were used, 
and, in fact, smaller engines and lighter machinery ; but long expe- 
rience and heavy bills of repairs have taught the coal operators that 
engines, pumps, gearings, chains, &c., must be strong and substan- 
tial in order to withstand the incessant lifting and straining to which 
they are subjected. 

We may now offer a few remarks in regard to drainage, and the 
plan of pumping the water out of mines. The capacity of the pump 
Taries from ten or twelve to fourteen inches. The working barrel is 
placed a little above the turning platform at the bottom of the slope, 



192 P F - H A N D S K E T C H E S . 

from which pipes are connected up to the surface, or near enough to 
the surface to have the water carried off. Pump rods are attached to 
the bucket in the working-barrel, and extend, of course, to the top 
of the slope, aad are connected, by means of a large pump-wheel, 
with the engine. Below the working-barrel of the pump, and below 
the turning platform at the foot of the slope, a sump is driven down, 
of the same dimensions as the slope, to the depth of thirty or more 
feet. This forms a basin into which the water of the mine collects 
from all the gangways and turnouts, and when the amount of water 
in the mine is not very great, it will be a considerable time in filling, 
during which there need, of course, be no pumping. In rainy seasons 
the water is sometimes rendered very troublesome in the mines, and it 
is therefore expedient to have the sump, and all connected with the 
pumping apparatus, in good order and constant readiness. Pipes are 
attached below the working-barrel and into the sump, and a connec- 
tion being thus formed, the water is pumped out. The water is gen 
erally pumped out at times when the engine is not hoisting coal, 
though it is often necessary, however, to hoist and pump at the same 
time. At some of the collieries two engines are used, one for hoist- 
ing up the coal, and the other for pumping up the water. Several 
hogsheads of water are thrown up per minute, with great ease and 
regularity. 

Drifts. — In working a coal mine above water-level, no engine or 
pumps are required. The drift is commenced on the surface, at the 
foot of a hill, where the vein crops out, and is driven through the 
vein in the same manner as described when below water-level. The 
mine being far enough in, gangways are extended to the right and 
left, and the coal worked out upon the same plan as in slopes, when 
it is hauled to the breaker by horses and mules. As the gangway is 
above water-level, with a slight inclination towards the drift, of course 
the water will run out, thereby rendering engines, pumps, and pump- 
ino- apparatus, wholly unnecessary. The mines, both of drifts and 
slopes, are substantially propped up with timber, indicated in the 
annexed figure, 56, at a, h, andy, f, f, f, which are the slabs of boards ; 
d indicating the groove or canal through which the water flows out. 

Blasting is frequently resorted to in mining, especially when work- 
ing large veins. For this purpose the safety-fuse is used almost in- 
variably, the coal being generally so wet and damp that the ordinary 
processes of blasting would not answer, even if preferable in an 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



193 




FIG. 5G. — VIEW OF THE TIMBER OF A DRIFT OR COAL MINE. 



economical view, which they are not. The safety-fuse, too, is perfectly 
safe, which gives it not the least important advantage. It is a species 
of fire-cracker or cartridge, the principal part of the composition 
being powder, which is surrounded by a hempen fabric, and then 
covered with another composition, to render it water-proof, of which 
the greater part is pitch. In blasting coal it is difficult to keep the 
water from filling up the drill-hole, but by inserting a piece of safety- 
fuse, and then fastening it tightly, no other preparations are necessary, 
The match is applied, and following the powder through the fuse, 
produces the desired result, afibrding ample time for the miners to 
withdraw, whenever desirable. 

The anthracite coal fields are, throughout, more or less faulty ; the 
southern region more especially. The seams of coal having been 
heaved up, and at other places sunk down, their local positions, if we 
may so say, are very much, and in various ways, disturbed and con- 
torted. A vein of coal may be followed for half a mile, when, gradu- 
ally or directly, it is found to run out, and a mass of solid rock occu- 
pying its place, and rising up immediately through it. To get on the 
17 Z 



194 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

vein again, this rock must be tunnelled at an expense varying from 
ten to thirty dollars per yard, and without knowing, positively, how 
far the tunnel must be extended ere the end can be accomplished. In 
cases like this fortunes have been and are annually spent. Per- 
sons who have engaged in the mining business, and invested large 
sums in the erection of the necessary buildings, machinery, railways, 
etc., after getting fairly into operation, and while their success seemed 
complete, have struck these faults, and in a short time have been 
thrown into utter bankruptcy. All their machinery is rendered com- 
paratively idle, their regular business suddenly checked and deranged, 
and thousands of dollars going out of their pockets. Impressed with 
the belief, which seems to be invariable in such cases, that a few 
yards of tunnelling will again place them on the vein, they labor as- 
siduously from day to day, and from week to week, entirely reOilizing, 
though not in the literal sense, the lines of Pope: 

Hope springs eternal in the human breast; 
Man never is, but always to be blest ! 

There are, as we have said, various kinds of faults ; in fact, al- 
though they may all have been produced by the same general agency, 
they vary in their particular character according to the different posi- 
tions previously occupied by the strata. At some places a stratum of 
clay, or a combination of earthy substances, is interposed ; while at 
others no such obstacles appear, but the vein is broken off, and the 
dismembered portion sunk down, just as we can suppose a piece 
of glass, laying on several small rollers, and then suddenly broken 
into irregular fragments; some pieces would be comparatively 
large, some would no doubt nearly and quite join each other, while 
others would occupy various relative positions to the mass. 

The reader will agree with us that coal mining, under such cir- 
cumstances, cannot but be an extremely hazardous and uncertain 
business ; and, indeed, the experience of some of our most enterpris- 
ing and intelligent operators affords substantial proof of the fact. 
There is no such thing as overcoming or avoiding, entirely, even with 
the best practical experience, the difficulties and dangers with which 
it is fraught. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 195 



VENTILLATION OF MINES AND GASEOUS EXPLOSIONS. 

We now approach perhaps the most important, abstfuse, and not 
the least interesting branch of the subject of coal mining. In Eng- 
land, thousands of doHars have been expended in experiments to 
arrive at a general system of ventillation ; and volume upon vol- 
ume of practical experience, and theoretical essay have been pub- 
lished. But a few years since the columns of the English Mining 
journals were filled with these lucubrations ; and the astounding 
number of persons annually destroyed in the mining regions, at last 
excited the attention of the government, and a series of investigations 
were instituted under its authority. The means proposed were 
various, and the wealth of a Girard might be squandered ere any one 
theory could be rendered practical, per se, in all coal mining regions. 
The plan of ventillation must always, in a great measure, be governed 
by the nature of the coal itself ; by the situation and local position 
of the strata ; by the arrangement of the workings, and various 
other considerations, which make one mine different from another. 

From various data before us, and from the practical knowledge 
imparted to us in repeated conversations with friends in the coal re- 
gion, we shall endeavor to present to the reader an abstract view of the 
whole subject, leaving for him, if his taste so incline, to add to the 
general stock speculations and theories of his own. 

The whole subject was recently taken up and reviewed by Prof. 
Ansted, of England, in the course of a series of lectures at King's 
College, on the practical application of geological science to mining. 
Though the published reports of these lectures are of great length, 
we shall endeavor to present a brief outline of his remarks upon the 
subject under consideration, which, though referring particularly to 
the coal mines of New Castle, will nevertheless illustrate those of our 
own country. 

He stated that he should now confine his remarks exclusively to the phenomena 
connected with those accumulations of gas in coal mines which caused explo- 
sions ; and he selected this opportunity, partly because the subject arose natu- 
rally out of that of ventillation in coal mines, being also itself a distinct subject 
of the greatest possible importance, and also because public attention had been 
called to it, by the frequent explosions and the great loss of life which often ac- 
companied them. The applicability of means to prevent these direful accidenta 



196 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

was a subject of the greatest importance, as regarded the internal economy of 
the mine; and he should, therefore, have to consider the circumstances under 
which accidents of this kind might be expected to take place ; the danger of 
explosion in coal mines arose, no doubt, from issues of gas proceeding from the 
coal itself. He had already had occasion to mention more than once the fact 
that gas was constantly given out by coal ; not only when exposed to heat, or 
unusual compression, but also under ordinary atmospheric conditions. When 
any one went into a coal mine for the first time, they would probably notice a 
peculiar singing noise, which, though it was not easy to understand, there was 
no doubt arose from the issue of gas from the coal. It was not known with 
certainty, whether this arose from the bursting of certain small vesicles in the 
coal ; or whether, in consequence of the pressure of the gas on the successive 
films of which the coal was made up, the singing noise resulted from the gas 
coming out, as it were, in the form of a thin plate. Certain it was, that in 
coal mines there was this unusual noise, and that it was connected in some way 
or other with the presence of gas. The noise was heard unceasingly in mines 
of certain kinds of coal, and in every such case, therefore, measures must be 
taken with regard to its results. The quantity of gas thus produced varied, 
however, very much according to the nature of the coal and the amount of at- 
mospheric pressure, which appeared to be the two principal causes which regu- 
lated the issue of the gas from the fractured surface of the coal. In order to 
give some idea of the quantity of gas sometimes given out, he might mention, 
that in the Bensham seam, which was known to be a particularly fiery one, gas 
was thrown out so rapidly, and in such purity, that by boring a little hole in the 
mineral, and applying a light, a jet flame would be produced. In this case, the 
gas would be in too pure a condition to be explosive, because, to make it so, a 
certain admixture of atmosphoric air was necessary. The quantity of gas thus 
given out naturally "by singing," from four acres of coal, was ascertained, some 
time ago, to amount to ten thousand hogsheads per minute. Seams of coal, 
however, varied very much in this respect, and some contained scarcely any gas 
at all. Besides this constant issue by singing, there was another way in which 
the gas was met with, namely, in what was called " blowers :" these were puffs 
of gas, sometimes taking place at long cracks, or at faults, and at others at mere 
holes ; they were sometimes very common, and produced as much gas as served 
to light certain parts of the mine— as, for instance, the principal passages ; and 
this, indeed, was the safest possible way of getting rid of it In the Killingworth 
mine there was a " blower," which had been burning for some years. In other 
instances, a fault was touched which gave out gas, and when the same fault had 
again been pierced, it had produced no gas. Sometimes, as in the case of the 
Great Jarrow explosion, when the works approached near a fault, the pressure 
of the gas pent up in it had forced forward the coal, which divided it from the 
mine, and involved all the workmen in certain destruction. These were all very 
difBcult circumstances to deal with, as it was impossible to anticipate them. 
Besides these blowers, which occurred in the natural state of the coal, there were 



ANTHRACITE COAL P 11 M A T I N . 197 

constantly dangerous accumulations in portions of the mines which had been 
worked out, or partially worked, and in which the roof had partly fallen down. 
It was impossible to prevent these accumulations where the roof had fallen, and 
in old workings ; and they were always more or less dangerous, -because the gas 
was here inevitably mixed with atmospheric air, and generally in such propor- 
tions as to be highly explosive ; they were also not uncommon in faulted dis- 
tricts — where the beds were in a broken state, the result of contraction, or pres- 
sure, at some remote period. In all these cases, accumulations of gas took place, 
and the gas was liable to burst forth on the smallest atmospheric change. If, 
for instance, a fall in the barometer indicated that the pressure of the atmos- 
phere had become less, its existence would not be so great, and a quantity of 
compressed gas would be forced out by expansion. Gas being thus present in 
the mines, either in the body of the coal itself, or in accumulated quantities, the 
danger arose from the fact, that it was impossible to conduct mining operations 
under ground without lights. 

The most convenient way of lighting, according to the miners, was by can- 
dles; and this, partly, because they were easy to carry about, and partly from 
long custom. There was a great prejudice in favor of candles, which they 
always would use wherever it was possible. Now, it must be remembered, that 
generally part of the mine only was liable to the ordinary issues of gas, while 
other parts were subject to what might be called extraordinary issues, such as 
arose from unexpected accumulations. In the former case the use of open 
lights would be perfectly safe, provided the general ventiUation was tolerably 
good. Thus, it might be considered that, under ordinary circumstances, such 
parts of the mine would be safe, and the other parts dangerous ; and it was 
generally found, that if the workmen were allowed to use candles to the safe 
parts, they did not object to use lamps in the dangerous portions. But the con- 
dition of any district was always liable to be disturbed by new blowers com- 
mencing, or by the influx of gas from the dangerous districts ; and, therefore, a 
vigilant superintendence of the state of the mine was indispensable. It was also 
necessary, if anything was to be done in the dangerous parts of the mine, that 
light should be obtained by safer means than by candles, because the smallest 
contact of flame was sufficient to explode certain mixtures of carburetted hydro- 
gen gas and the atmospheric air. The explosive admixture was a mechanical 
one, and it was necessary to understand precisely of what proportions it was 
formed. If the gas came out pure, and a candle was thrust into it, the flame 
would be extiuguishcd, because there was nothing to support combustion; the 
gas itself would take fire. If there were three parts of atmospheric air and one 
of gas, it began to be faintly explosive ; and, when once explosive, it would set 
fire to other gas, which was too pure to explode. When the gas was as one to 
six, it became very explosive, and continued so until the proportions were one to 
ten, when it became less explosive. The danger, however, was not destroyed 
until the mixture became weaker than one part of gas to fourteen of air; after 
that it merely enlarged the flame of any light which might bo brought into it, 
17* 



198 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

and turned it blue. The miner was tlius enabled, by the lengthening of the 
flame of his light, and its appearance, to tell whether he was in a dangerous part 
of the mine, and the amount of gas that might be present in the atmosphere. 
If the flame reached to a certain height, the practical miner could tell at once 
how nearly the atmosphere approached an explosive combination ; and with some 
other similar points affecting his safety, and that of his fellow-workmen, long 
habit had made him familiar. 

There were several considerations of importance connected with these explo- 
sive admixtures of gas and air; as, for instance, the effect produced by the 
breathing of a number of men, which very much lessened the danger, by altering 
the proportions of nitrogen and oxygen in the atmosphere ,• and thus one portion 
of the mine would be less explosive than another, though both might contain 
the same proportion of carburetted hydrogen. 

Every part of the mine which was capable of being worked, should, in all 
cases, be visited with guarded lights, before other lights were allowed to be 
taken ; and the state of the mine should always be well ascertained before open 
lights avo used. There was also a certain amount of danger in going into some 
portions of a fiery mine ; and, until within the last thirty years, the only means 
of obtaining any degree of light in such cases, was by the use of an apparatus 
called the steel-mill. This was a very ingenious contrivance, by which a train 
of sparks was produced by pressing a flint against a revolving plate of steel, 
and this aff"orded sufficient light to move about, but not enough to work by. It 
was, moreover, a dangerous contrivance, for, every now and then, there could 
be no doubt, a flame was produced sufficient to explode gas under certain cir- 
cumstances, and particularly if olefiant gas should be present, which, however, 
did not often happen to be the ease in English mines. 

About thirty years ago, a great number of serious accidents occurred in the 
mines of the north of "England, following each other in alarmingly rapid succes- 
sion. Very many lives were lost, and the public attention was much directed 
to the question whether or not some improvement could be discovered in the way 
of lighting the mines. Sir Humphrey Davy, then in the zenith of his reputa- 
tion, was applied to by Mr. Buddie, a well known colliery viewer of that day, and 
invited to turn his attention to the subject. Humboldt had before attempted to 
overcome this diffieulty ; but his contrivance was only partially useful for visit- 
ing dangerous mines, as it would not burn longer than half an hour, the flame 
being supported by a reservoir of atmospheric air within the lamp. Dr. Clanny 
improved this lamp, admitting the external air freely in cases when it was used 
in an explosive state ; but this lamp was practically useless, as the explosions 
which took place inside it soon put out the light. 

The learned lecturer then proceeded to explain Sir. H. Davy's invention — the 
safety-lamp, figure 57. Its principle was founded upon the discovery, that the 
explosion of the mixture in question did not pass through small tubes ,• and 
after numerous experiments, Sir. Humphrey Davy found that the length of 
the tubes was of no consequence, but that wire gauze, the apertures being of 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



199 




the proper dimensions, answered the same purpose. By this 
means all necessity for an exterior glass was got rid of, and 
the new lamp might be carried into the 7nost explosive ad- 
mixtures without danger. Such was the Davy lamp ; and 
he believed that, as it was the first, it was also by far the 
best real safety lamp that had been invented. It was, per- 
haps, not perfect, judging only by experiment, but it was 
decidedly the best for all practical purposes, as it was more 
manageable than any other, and not so easily put out of 
order. The gauze usually employed was made of iron wire, 
and it had seven hundred and eighty-four holes to the square 
inch. Sir Da^-y, having perfected his lamp, went down to 
the New Castle coal field, and with Mr. Riddle, traversed 
with impunity some of the most dangerous parts of the Ben- 
sham scam, at that time the most fiery known. The Davy 
lamp had been used with great success ever since, and though 
some accidents had occurred under circumstances in which 
no lights but those of Davy lamps were present, it was as 
safe as any such instrument could be. The superiority of 
this lamp over more recent inventions consisted in its pro- 
ducing a greater quantity of light, and being more portable 
with at least as much safety. Mr. George Stephenson, the 
engineer, had also invented a lamp, which was called a " Geordie," after the 
name of the inventor. It was, however, merely a modification of the Davy 
lamp, by the addition of a glass tube, which answered the double purpose of 
increasing the light and keeping the flame steady, by shielding it from currents 
of air. This, perhaps, gave it additional safety while perfect, as it was possible 
to drive an explosion of common street gas through the gauze of a Davy lamp. 
The glass, however, was liable to be broken, and then the instrument became a 
large and somewhat dangerous "Davy." In some of the Belgian mines a lamp 
called " the Muesseler lamp," was in use, but it was a very complicated afiair. 
and for that purpose was inferior to Sir H. Davy's invention. No doubt it was 
safer theoretically, as by it the flame was extinguished the moment the lamp 
was taken into a dangerous atmosphere ; but this very much lessened its utility, 
the main point being that the lamp shall give light with safety under such cir- 
cumstances. The Davy lamp, with care, might be taken anywhere. Ho (the 
lecturer) had himself been in every description of atmosphere, and he had often 
seen explosions take place inside the Davy lamp by which he was lighted. 
This, indeed, was a circumstance which happened constantly to every viewer, 
over-man, and Davy-man in the New Castle coal field. The true danger of the 
Davy lamp was one that would apply equally to any other, and it arose from 
the fact, that its constant use made the workmen careless, and the more it was 
used, therefore, the greater chance was there of accidents. The learned lecturer 



FIG. y/. 



200 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

here exhibited a printed placard, setting forth the regulations which wcro 
adopted in several collieries in respect to Davy lamps, the most important being 
that which enacted that no man should be allowed to use his Davy lamp until 
it had been examined carefully by the Davy-man, and pronounced perfectly 
clean and in good order, nor until it was securely locked, so that the workman 
could not take it to pieces, and expose the flame in an unguarded manner. 

With regard to actual accidents, the professor remarked that he should not 
say much beyond placing before them the circumstances of a few of the most 
disastrous, which would serve to explain the nature of the results of the ex- 
plosions of which he had explained the cause. The most important, then, that 
he should mention, occurred in the Haswell colliery, on the 28th September, 
1844, when ninety-five lives were lost ; and the next was that at the Jarrow 
Pit, on the 3d of August, 1845, when forty-one persons were killed. In the 
same year thirty-six lives were lost at Killingworth j and in 1846, nineteen at 
Oldbury and thirty-six at Risca. By these accidents occurring within a period 
of little more than two years, upwards of two hundred persons lost their lives ; 
and he had grouped these accidents together in order to give an idea of the 
extent to which they occurred. There were, then, two hundred lives lost in two 
years, in working coal mines, from accidents which, in the opinion of the juries 
who held inquests on the unfortunate sufferers, could not possibly have been pre- 
vented — the mines being in every case, except, perhaps, in that of the least 
considerable, in good condition at the time. 

In the first of these accidents, that of the Haswell colliery, there were under 
ground at the time of the accident ninety-nine persons, of whom four only 
escaped. It was an important consideration (which also applied to other acci- 
dents), whether it was absolutely unavoidable, the catastrophe having occurred, 
that all these people should be killed. It might be that the whole matter was be- 
yond human control, as in the case of a shipwreck. If we crossed the sea, the 
vessel, being made by human hands, was liable to accidents which might hap- 
pen from stress of weather, which no one could help ; or from carelessness, in 
respect of which some one would be culpable. If everything were done to ren- 
der the vessel seaworthy, there would be no blame attaching in respect to its 
condition, though it should be wrecked in a storm .; but if the vessel were sent 
to sea in an unsafe condition, there was blame. Just so was it with regard to 
mines; if the mine were in as good a condition as science, and the adoption of 
the best plans could make it, no blame might bo attributed to any one for an 
unforeseen accident. But if it were possible so to manage the mine as to lessen 
the chance of accident, (he did not believe accidents could be entirely prevented) ; 
and if that were not done, then there would be blame. The sea must be crossed, 
despite of shipwrecks ; and coal must be had, let it cost what it might ; the point 
was to get it under the most favorable circumstances. In the case of each acci- 
dent, therefore, it was important to consider whether everything was done by 
way of prevention and palliation which could be done. In the case before them, 
that of the Haswell colliery, the accident occurred in a part of the mine where 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 201 

the pillars had been removed, and the workmen were taking away the props. 
This was always a delicate operation, because the props being removed, the roof 
fell, and the accumulations of gas were disturbed, and often shifted. Before 
proceeding further with the particulars of this melancholy accident, it would be 
necessary to mention the effect of an explosion upon the atmosphere. The ear- 
buretted hydrogen, when exploded, became decomposed ,• the oxygen in the at- 
mosphere mixed with the hydrogen and formed water, and nothing was left to 
breathe but pure carbonic acid gas. This was a most poisonous gas, and produced 
instant death by choking. At least, insensibility was instantaneous; and, 
although in such cases, when measures were taken immediately, recovery had 
taken place, death was generally inevitable. The result of an explosion, there- 
fore, was to turn the atmosphere into pure carbonic acid gas ; and every man in 
that district of the mine, Ln which the accident occurred, was doomed to certain 
death. The Haswell mine was divided into three great divisions, or three pan- 
nel workings ; the explosion took place in the middle division, and thirty or 
forty persons, far removed from the scene of the accident, in another pannel, 
were poisoned by the after-damp. This could not have occurred had the ventil- 
lation of each pannel been as distinct as it might have been ; and — he was, there- 
fore, bound to say — as it ought to have been. The explosion at the Jarrow Pit, 
in August, 184:5, by which forty-one persons were killed, was another instance 
where such a largo destruction of human life was occasioned by the absence of 
two shafts ; for the means of ventillation at the only one being destroyed by the 
accident, there was no means of restoring it previously to the mischief being 
done. Another interesting case occurred in the Killingworth colliery in 1845, 
which was the result of a fault. On one side of the district there was a long 
stone drift, at right angles to the main rolley-way of the pannel, in which the 
men were working; a fault was reached, and this gallery not prosecuted beyond 
it. The chief object was to drive through a mass of coal in order to get the 
ventillation completed, and for this purpose they were at work day and night 
The fault was pricked in the course of the work in a succession of places, up to 
two or three days before the accident, which took place on a Thursday, without any 
unusual presence of gas being observed. On the Wednesday the fault was once 
more pricked, and no gas came out. On Thursday, one set of men had performed 
their allotted portion of work, and about two hours afterwards another gang of 
workmen descended ; and it is singular that, though the gallery was considered 
so far dangerous that the men were working with Davy lamps, a boy was allowed 
to precede them with an open candle — a piece of carelessness most inexcusable, 
and for which they paid with their lives ; before they reached the spot where the 
workings were, an explosion took place, and every person in the mine perished. 
Some idea of the force of these explosions might be deduced from the fact that 
on this occasion, a stopping consisting of thirty-six feet of rough materials, with 
an inch and a half brick wall on either side, was blown to pieces. In another 
instance, at the Jarrow mine, an accident happened, and on examining the 
mine afterwards, a cavity was found, in which there had been probably about 

2A 



202 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

two hundred cubic feet of gas in a very condensed state, and the side of the 
cavity being reduced by the worliing, it had given away, and let out the whole, 
which exploded with irresistible force. This was a kind of accident to which the 
miners were constantly liable, and which no vigilance could foresee or prevent. 
Accidents, and all their particulars, ought alwaj-s to be recorded, and they could 
not be discussed too much. It was quite clear that, although it was impossible 
to avoid accidents, the risk was greatly diminished by good and efiective systems 
of ventillation, and by unceasing care in the use of lights. 

In continuation of this subject, we present the following, principally 
condensed from the work of the late Mr. Taylor, entitled " Statistics 
of Coal." The workmen of the Crouzot mine descended one morn- 
ing, the one following the other, in rotation, into a shaft below, in 
which carbonic acid had accumulated during the night. Arrived at 
the level of the "bain," at a few yards from the bottom of the pit, the 
first fell, struck with asphyxia, without having time to utter a cry ; 
the second followed immediately ; the third saw his comrades pros- 
trated on the ground, almost within reach of his arm ; he stooped to 
seize them, and fell himself; another quickly shared the same fate, 
in his desire to save the others, and the catastrophe would not have 
been arrested had not the fifth been an experienced master miner, 
who obliged those who followed him to re-ascend. 

The gases which result from the subterranean decomposition of the 
coal, have, besides carbonic acid, carbonic oxide, azote, sulphurous 
acid, and the carburets of hydrogen, which have a special odour. 
Before the coal takes fire, the interior air is already heavy and 
heated by the gaseous disengagements which are the precursors of 
ignition. As quickly as these symptoms are remarked, the coals 
already mined should be raised, and we should isolate from the sur- 
rounding air the region or the crevices which enclose the fire ; era- 
ploying at this work the laborers whose organization is known to be 
the best adapted to support the deleterious infiuence of these gases. 

Azote, or nitrogen gas, is much less to be dreaded than the carbonic 
acid ; because its action upon the animal economy is less energetic ; 
besides, its production can only take place by the absorption of oxy- 
gen from the air, and it does not naturally exist in the fissures or 
cavities of the rocks. It has, then, no spontaneous disengagement ; 
but if we penetrate into the works which have been a long time 
abandoned, and where there has been combustion, the azote will 
occupy, in consequence of its lightness, the higher parts of the exca- 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 203 

vations, Avhile the carbonic acid will occupy the lower parts ; the res- 
pirable air forming the intermediate zone. Azote is found isolated 
in certain mines, where there exists pyrites in a state of decomposi- 
tion ; the sulphurets changing into sulphates, absorb the oxygen and 
isolate the azote ; the sulphuret of iron is, in this respect, the most 
active agent. 

Azote manifests itself by the red color of the flames of the lamps, 
which ends by extinction ; it renders respiration difficult, produces a 
heaviness of the head, and a hissing or singing in the ears, which 
seems to indicate a mode of action different from that of carbonic 
acid. 

The ordinary lamp of the miner is extinguished when the air con- 
tains no more than fifteen per cent, of oxygen ; [the atmospheric air 
is composed of twenty-one per cent, of oxygen and seventy-nine per 
cent, of azote,] it is also at this proportion of eighty-five per cent, of 
azote that asphyxia or suffocation is caused. 

Proto-carbonated hydrogen, or inflammable air, designated by the 
French and Belgian miners under the name of grisou, is, of all the 
gases, the most dangerous ; that which occasions the greatest num- 
ber of accidents, not by asphyxia, which it can nevertheless produce 
when it is not mixed with at least twice its volume of air, but for its 
property of igniting when in contact with lighted flames, and of 
exploding when it is mixed, in certain proportions, with atmos- 
pheric air. 

The gnsou is more abundant in the fat and friable coals, than in 
the dry and meagre coals ; it particularly disengages itself in the 
crushed places, ^houlcments, in the recent stalls whose surfaces are 
laid bare, and that so vigorously as often to decripitate small scales 
of coal and produce a slight rustling noise. The fissures or fractures 
of the coal, and even the clefts of the roof or the floor, give sometimes 
outlets to sonfflards, or jets of gas. The action of thi's gas upon the 
flame of the lamps is the most certain guide in ascertaining its pres- 
ence and proportion. The flame dilates, elongates, and takes a 
bluish tint, which can readily be distinguished by placing the hand ■ 
between the eye and the flame, so that only the top of it can be seen. 
As soon as the proportion is equal to one-twelfth part of the ambient 
air, the mixture is explosive, and if a lamp be carried, it will produce 
a detonation proportionate to the volume of the mixture. "When, 
therefore, a miner perceives at the top of the flame of his lamp the 



204 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

bluish nimbus which decides the presence of the fire-damp, he ought 
to retire, either holding his light very low or even to extinguish it. 

The chemical effects of an explosion are the direct production of 
the vapors of water and carbonic acid, and the separation of azote. 
The physical effects are, a violent dilatation of gas and of the sur- 
rounding air, followed by a reaction through contraction. The work- 
men who are exposed to this explosive atmosphere are burned, and 
the fire is even capable of communicating to the wood work or to the 
coal ; the wind produced by the expansion is so great that, even at 
considerable distance from the site of explosion, the laborers are 
thrown down, or projected against the sides of the excavations. The 
walls and timbering are shaken and broken, and crushing or 
falling down is produced. These destructive effects can be propa- 
gated even at the mouths of the pits, from which are projected frag- 
ments of wood and rocks, accompanied by a thick tempest of coal in 
the form of dust. 

The evil rests not there ; considerable quantities of carbonic acid 
and azote, produced by the combustion of the gas, become stationary 
in the works, and cause those who have escaped by the immediate 
action of the explosion to perish by suffocation. The ventillating 
currents suddenly arrested by this perturbation, are now much more 
difficult to re-establish, because the doors which served to regulate 
them are partly destroyed ; the fires are extinguished, and often even 
the machines fixed at the mouths of the shafts to regulate the cur- 
rents are damaged and displaced to such an extent, that it becomes 
impossible to convey any help to the bottom of the works. 

THE MINER'S DOOM. 

'Twas evening, and a sweeter balm on earth was never shed, 

The sun lay in his gorgeous pomp on ocean's heaving bed, 

The sky was clad in bright array, too beautiful to last, 

For night, like envy, scowling came, and all the scene o'ercast, 

'Tis thus with hope — 'tis thus with life, when sunny dreams appear, 

The infant leaves the cradle-couch to slumber on a bier ; 

The rainbow of our cherished love, we see in beauty's eye, 

That glows with all its mingled hues, alas ! to fade and die ! 

'Tis dark, still night — the sultry air scarce moves a leaf or flower ; 

The aspen, trembling, fears to stir, in such a silent hour ; 

The footsteps of the timid hare, distinctly may be heard 

Between the pauses of the song of night's portentous bird — 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 205 

And in so drear a moment, plods the miner to Lis toil, 

Compelled refreshing sleep to leave, for labor's hardest moil : 

By fate's rude hand, the dream of peace is broken and destroyed — 

The savage beasl his rest can take, but man must be de^nied ! 

And why this sacrifice of rest ? — did not the Maker plan 

The darksome hours for gentle sleep, the day for work by man ? 

Yes — but the mighty gods of earth are wiser in their laws — 

Thcij hold themselves with pride to be their Creator's first great cause. 

The miner hath his work begun, and busy strokes resound, 

AVarm drops of sweat are fiilling fast — the coal lies piled around. 

Aud what a sight of slavery ! in narrow seams compressed 

Are seen the prostrate forms of men to hew on back and breast. 

Fainting with heat, with dust begrimed, their meagre faces see. 

By glimmering lamps that serve to show their looks of misery. 

And oft the hard swollen hand is raised to wipe the forehead dews ; 

He breathes a sigh for labor's close, and then his toil renews. 

And manly hearts are throbbing there — and visions in that mind 

Float o'er the young and sanguine soul, like stars that rain and shine. 

Amid the dreariness that dwells within the cavern's gloom. 

Age looks to youth to solace him — waits for his fruits to bloom. 

Behold ! there is a careless face bent from yon cabined nook; 

Hope you may read in his bright eye — there's future in his look ; 

Oh, blight not then the fairy flower, 'tis heartless to destroy 

The only pleasure mortals know — anticipated joy ! 

Oh, God ! what flickering flame is this ? — see, see again its glare ! 

Dancing around the wiry lamp, like meteors of the air. 

Away, away ! — the shaft, the shaft ! — the blazing fire flies ! 

Confusion ! — speed ! — the lava stream the lightning's wing defies ! 

The shaft ! — the shaft ! — down on the ground and let the demon ride 

Like the Sirocco on the blast — volcanos in their pride ! 

The choke-damp angel slaughters all — he spares no living soul ! 

He smites them with sulphureous brand — he blackens them like coal .' 

The young — the hopeful, happy young — fall with the old and gray, 

And oh, great God ! a dreadful doom, thus buried to decay 

Beneath the green and flowery sod whereon their friends remain — 

Disfigured, and perchance alive — their cries unheard and vain ! 

Oh, desolation ! thou art now a tyrant on thy throne, 

Thou smilest with sardonic lip to hear the shriek and groan ! 

To see each mangled, writhing corpse to raining eyes displayed — 

For hopeless widows now lament, and orphans wail dismayed. 

Behold thy work ! The maid is there, her lover to deplore ; 

The mother wails her only child, that she shall see no more ; 

An idiot sister laughs and sings — oh, melancholy joy ! 

While bending o'er her brother dead, she opes the sightless eye. 

18 



206 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

Apart, an aged man appears, like some sage David oak. 

Shedding his tears, like leaves that fall beneath the woodman's stroke ; 

His poor old heart is rent in twain — he stands and weeps alone — 

The sole supporter of his house, the last, the best, is gone ! 

This is thy work, fell tyrant ! — this the miner's common lot ! 

In danger's darkling den he toils, and dies lamented not , 

The army has its pensioners — the sons of ocean rest. 

When battle's crimson flag is furled, on bounty's downy breast ; 

But who regards the mining slave, that for his country's wealth 

Resigns his sleep, his pleasures, home, his freedom and his health ! 

From the glad skies and fragrant field he cheerfully descends, 

And eats his bread in stenchy caves, where his existence ends. 

Aye, this is he whom masters grind, and level with the dust — 

The slave that barters life, to gain the pittance of a crust. 

Go, read your pillar'd calendar, the record that will tell 

How many victims of the mine in yonder churchyard dwell ! 

Hath honor's laurels ever wreathed the despot's haughty brow ? 

Hath pity's hallowed gems appeared when he in death lay low ? 

Unhonored in his memory, despised his worthless name — 

Who wields in life the iron rod, in death no tear can claim ! 

A great number of accidents have taken place on Monday morn- 
ings, when the miners descend after having quitted the mine on 
Saturday. M. Bischof reports that, having visited a gallery which 
had been abandoned for several days, he found the gases liquated to 
such an extent that they were inflammable in every part of the area ; 
detonating in the middle portion, while the almost pui-e atmospheric 
air filled the lower part. 

It is very dangerous to allow these liquations to accumulate ; it is 
necessary that the current of air be sufliciently active to produce im- 
mediately the diffusion of the gas in the air and its withdrawal out 
of the mine before the mixture has become explosive. But notwith- 
standing the precautions of ventillation — aeragc — many mines would 
be completely unworkable if there had not been found the special 
means of guarding them from the fire-damp — grisou. The coal beds 
most dangerous — as has been previously stated — are those which are 
the most valuable for their good qualities ; science and industry have 
therefore been called on to seek the means of combating the effects 
of the grisou, and we proceed to expose those which have been suc- 
cessively employed : 

Means to Cueck Fire-Damp. — The first idea which presented 
itself to the explorers was to disembarrass themselves of the gas by 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. . 207 

allowing the liquation to establish itself and by setting it on fire, so 
as to burn it, in the absence of the miners. For this purpose a -work- 
man, clothed in vestments of moistened leather, his visage protected 
by a mask with spectacles of glass, advanced, crawling on his belly, 
in the galleries where the fire-damp was known to exist, and holding 
forward a long pole, at the end of which was a lighted torch ; he 
sounded thus the irregularities of the roof, the front of the excavations, 
and set fire to the grisous. This method, which has been employed, 
within twenty years, in the basin of the Loire, and even occasionally 
at the present day, in some of the English fiery collieries, has nu- 
merous inconveniencies. The workmen, whom they called piniients, 
were exposed to dangers to such an extent, that a great number per- 
ished. When the gas, instead of being simply inflammable, was deto- 
nating, the solidity of the mine was constantly compromised by the 
explosions ; the fire attacked the coal and the timbers ; the gases, 
which resulted from the combustion, became stationary in the works, 
and menaced the workmen with asphyxia ; at length it became neces- 
sary, in certain mines, to repeat, even three or four times a day, this 
perilous operation, and yet it in no respect obviated the rapid disen- 
gagements which caused these numerous accidents. This method 
was equally in use in the English collieries ; only the penitent or fire- 
man, instead of carrying the fire himself, caused it to be moved by 
means of a slider placed over a line of poles connected together, and 
directed by a system of pullies and cords. The danger was thus di- 
minished for the fireman, who retired into a niche formed in a neigh- 
boring gallery ; but in the meantime many were still overtaken, and 
besides, all the other inconveniencies remained. 

The method called the eternal lamps was evidently better. It con- 
sisted in placing towards the top of the excavation, and in all the 
points where the fire-damp collected, lamps constant!}- lighted, which 
burned the grisou as fast as it was produced ; the danger was dimin- 
ished in a considerable degree, because there could not be formed such 
large accumulations of inflammable or detonating gas. This mode of 
proceeding was, however, renounced in a great number of mines, on 
account of the production of carbonic acid and of azote ; a produc- 
tion the more sensitive, since, to facilitate the liquation of the gases, 
the air ought not to be very strongly agitated. 

At length it was devised to profit by the property possessed by pla- 
tina in sponge to facilitate the combustion of the hydrogen with which 



208 . Orr-HANDSKETCHES. 

it was brought in contact, and pellets, composed of one part of platina 
and two parts of clay, were made, and placed near the points at which 
the grisou or fire-damp concentrated. But all these efforts, based upon 
the incited combustion of the inflammable gas, proved to be only 
dangerous and incomplete palliatives, which substituted for a great 
peril a series of other dangers, less imminent, doubtless, but equally 
distressing. 

From that time all the well disposed continued to search for pro- 
cesses based upon another principle. Two only could conduct to a 
good result: 1. The withdrawal of the gases out of the mine ; 2. A 
mode of lighting different from that which was in use, and which would 
suffice for the pui'j^^oses of the miner without compromising his safety. 

The principle of withdrawing — entrainemeni — of the gases by a 
rapid ventillation is, without contradiction, that which was the most 
natural to conceiM' : because it was already applied to all the other 
deleterious gases. Dr. Vehrle proposed at first to effect the decanting 
of the gases by making the excavations (stalls?) communicate by 
ascending passages with a gallery embracing all the works, and unit- 
ing with an ascending shaft. But this project, otherwise impracti- 
cable, offered a remedy for only a part of these accidents ; the execu- 
tion alone of the necessary works could not have been made without 
the greatest danger, if these works had been undertaken in the coal ; 
while, in the rocks of the roof, the expenses would have rendered 
them impracticable. But a good ventillation alone could not suffice 
to place the miners in security ; it was an excellent auxiliary means, 
but it always left unsolved this important problem : iJie prevention of 
the inflammation of the gases which disengage themselves from the sur- 
faces of the stalls. 

The lighting alone could conduct to the solution of this problem, 
and numerous attempts had been made, under this head, when Davy 
discovered the safety-lamp. Before him, they had operated with a 
small number of lights, placed in the lowest positions, and at a dis- 
tance from the stalls ; the workmen kept these lamps in view, and 
when the blue nimbus, the indication of hydrogen, began to show itself, 
they extinguished them or withdrew, covering them with their hats. 
They made use of, also, in the most infected mines, various phosphores- 
cent matters, and particularly a mixture of flour and lime formed from 
oyster shells, called Canton phosphorus, although the uncertain and 
ephemeral light which these materials produced, was but a very feeble 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 209 

resource. At length it was observed that the proto-carbonatcd hydro- 
gen was somewhat difficult of ignition, and that the red heat was in- 
sufficient to accomplish it ; thus it was practicable to carry a red coal, 
or a red hot iron into the fire damp without inflaming it, the white 
heat alone having the necessary temperature. They profited by this 
discovery by lighting the stalls by means of the steel-mill, previously 
described by Prof. Ansted, and such was the state of affairs when Sir 
H. Davy took up the subject, and commenced his brilliant experi- 
ments. 

From the foregoing, the reader will have gleaned a true under- 
standing of the nature of those accumulations in mines, which render 
ventillation a subject of such vast importance. The means adopted 
and suggested to prevent the explosion of these gases are innumera- 
ble ; and notwithstanding that the discovery of the safety lamp, by 
which the presence of noxious gases can always be determined, has 
been a source of great moment and security, yet its use has not been 
effective in assisting to expel them, or of suggesting any certain 
method of ventillation, beyond the actual discovery of what might to 
be expelled. It exhibits, infallibly, the actual presence of the gases ; but 
it has not led to the means by which they can be dispersed and driven 
out ; so that the very dangers which attended mining previous to its 
introduction, attend it now, and always will attend it until some 
means can be devised to drive them out of the mines as fast as 
they accumulate. A principle of ventillation, for example, that will 
answer the purpose during the summer season, would not answer at 
all (in many cases, at least in our region,) during the winter, notwith- 
standing the fact that a difference of but a few degrees occurs in the 
temperature of the mines, during the year. This, of course, arises 
from external causes, which must always govern the atmosphere of 
the mine. Thus, when the external atmosphere is varied, and sud- 
denly changed by winds, lightning, frost, snow, and long continued 
rains, the gases in the mine will be found to accumulate, to disperse, 
or to be borne out of the mine, as the case may be. They are always 
regulated by the density of atmospheric air, and rendered explosive 
just in proportion as they unite with it; here the safety-lamp is 
useful, because, however explosive the combination may be, it will 
conduct the viewer safely through it ; but, then, here is where ventil- 
lation fails, for the admixture cannot be disunited, or expelled, except 
in its own time and way. 

18* ' 2B 



210 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

The most general plan of ventillation adopted in this region is 
simply this: The atmospheric air is admitted at or near the 
mouth of the slope. After traversing the mine through every 
avenue, the current is drawn through an escape-hole, over vfhich a 
furnace is erected, and a regular and intense heat kept up. The 
draft thus afforded (there being no otlier escape) is generally very 
strong, and as the current of air is borne along, it bears with it all 
the noxious gases in the mine. Whenever these gases accumulate in 
workings where the current of atmospheric air does not penetrate 
sufficiently, they are dispersed by the miners, by means of canvasses 
or banners ; and when there is not sufficient air, boys are stationed 
with revolving fans, by which the air is kept comparatively clean. 
These, with like devices, varied as circumstances may suggest, are the 
means resorted to in the anthracite regions of this State, There is a 
viewer for each mine, who enters with a Davy-lamp, and always 
reports the actual condition of the mine before the miners go to 
work. 

MORAL CONDITION OF MINERS, ETC. 

The mining population of our coal regions is almost exclusively 
composed of foreigners, principally from England and Wales, with a 
few Irish and Scotchmen. The former have a decided preference for 
working in small veins, and they can use the pick in the narrowest 
space, right and left, and in all positions. They cannot, of course, 
swing it over their shoulders, or give it the force which is deemed 
so necessary for eflPective work ; but, holding it in front, and making 
shorty quick strokes, the pick is still as eflfective in their hands, in a 
space of three or four feet, (or even less) as would be in less cir- 
cumscribed limits- 

This predilection of the English miners is principally attributable to 
the fact, that the coal veins of their mining regions are usually 
thin, and having entered them at a very early age, they have thus 
formed a preference for thin veins, and a prejudice against large ones, 
where it is necessary to blast, use ladders, &c. Every miner carries 
his lamp on his cap, to which it is lioohed. (Fig. 58.) While pursuing 
their labors in the mines, they soon liecome thoroughly covered over 
with the black coal dust, and their clothes, which are of the coarsest 
fabrics, rudely patched together, are saturated with water. The 
mines are damp, and the floor usually full of coal-mud and water; 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION, 



211 



hence the miners and laborers wear 
heavy coarse shoes, with the soles 
covered with tacks. ■ Although ex- 
tremely healthy as a class, they 
are nevertheless, pale and some- 
what delicate in the face, and their 
eyes may be said to be prominent. 
Their features are not regular, and 
they cannotjustlylayclaim to manly 
beauty. They know little but what 
pertains to their subtci'rancous em- 
ployments ; making that the subject 
of their discussions, their jests and 
their pastimes, they have little care 
for things concerning the upper 
ci'ust. They are, to a certain de- 
gree, superstitious ; even the most 
intelligent of them yield to it. For 
example, it is considered an evil 
omen when a stranger, in entering 
the mine, begins to ichistle. It pro- 
duces a certain effect among them, 

and destroys, in a measure, their good spirits. A miner never w?iistles, 
and when, occasionally, they hum a tune, it is more of a soft and 
plaintive character than the popular songs of the day. The employ- 
ment seems well calculated to indulge thought — calm, complacent 
ideas. There is no wildness, no ambition ; they seek only contentment, 
and are satisfied with their lot. 

Visitors to the mines are cordially received, and every attention is 
shown them by the workmen. As a stranger would derive little sat- 
isfaction from his visit, unless he placed himself in the care of some 
one thoroughly acquainted with the mine, the workmen observe the 
old established custom of requesting every visitor to jmij Ids foot in ij, 
that is, the present of twentj^-five or fifty cents (or a dollar or five 
dollars, if you like) to the person or persons who "show him the ele- 
phant." This request is generally made when tlie parties are the 
greatest distance from the slope, and when the visitor would naturally 
apprehend some difficulty in finding his way out ! But, inasmuch as 
the conductor is withdrawn from his labor, and the visitor, without 




FIG. 58. — A COAL MINER. 



212 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

him, would be liable to got in the way of the workmen, and perhaps 
meet with some accident — besides his disability to understand the 
operations — the payment of the " footing" should never be neglected 
nor begrudged. The ladies, of course, pass free — the only charge 
being a smile or so. 

The moral condition of the mining population of the anthracite 
regions of this State, is vastly superior to that of the same class in 
any other country. They reside in rude cottages, it is true, and 
do not enjoy the same elegancies of life which are obtained in many 
other industrial pursuits ; but they have abundance to eat, good 
clothes to wear, and money in their pockets. A more generous-hearted 
people, more devoted to their friends, and faithful in their domestic 
attachments, does not live. Upon their arrival here, where labor is 
usually plenty, the first fruits of their industry are carefully hoarded, 
and when a sufficient sum is gathered together, it is sent home to 
cheer and bless some kindly-remembered relative or friend. Thou- 
sands of dollars are thus annually sent off by the humble laborers of 
the coal regions ; and the fact illustrates the golden trait of our 
nature, which must in all time to come hide a catalogue of sins. 

Strange are the incidents which sometimes occur in virtue of this 
noble impulse. Not long ago, an honest and industrious miner, after 
several months unceasing toil, had laid by a sufficient sum to pay the 
passage of his wife and several children from England to this country, 
besides a handsome sum for necessary expenses. The passage had 
been secured, and the money forwarded. The wife and her children 
in due time arrived ; but, alas ! where was the kind husband and 
father ? In his grave. A day or two previous to their arrival, he had 
fallen at his work in the mine — a victim to an explosion ofjire-damp. 

The career of the miner, repairing daily to his subterranean work- 
shop is, indeed, full of unfortunate streaks ; dismal as solitude ; black 
as the earth he delves. The scarred chieftain knows less danger, and 
much more glory. 

But although the lot of the miner is little to be envied, it must be 
said, to the eternal credit of our country and its institutions, that it 
is here stripped of the odious features which characteiuze it in 
other countries. To exhibit the contrast between the mining dis- 
tricts of England and our own country, we have prepared the fol- 
lowing items from the report of the investigating commissioners, ap- 
pointed by the British Parliament, a few years ago. The degrading 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 213 

practice of employing children and females in mines does not prevail 
here. Boys are employed to drive the horses, and to assort the coal 
as it descends into the shutes from the breaker ; but these duties are 
light, and suited to their capacity. Females, old or young, have never 
been engaged in the mines of this country ; (thank heaven, our 
countrymen appreciate them too highly not to offer them better 
cngagemeniSy and more pleasant and appropriate employment!) 

In 1841 the commissioners proceeded to investigate the condition 
of the laborers, male and female, in the mines of Great Britain. Of 
the number of children employed in the iron, coal, tin, and lead 
mines, it is difficult to ascertain, or to form any nice estimate ; but 
the number must be very large. In many pits they are set to work at 
a very early age, some at six years, and at all ages beyond that. Ac- 
cording to the evidence of Dr. Mitchell, the proportion of men to boys 
in the iron-stone pits of Staffordshire is one hundred to seventy ; in 
the coal pits it is one hundred to ninety. Many of these pits, espe- 
cially the iron-stone, are low, and horses cannot be employed, which 
is the principal reason of there being so large a proportion of boys in 
comparison with the men, to push the skiffs or carriages to the foot 
of the shaft. 

In some of the mines the improper and reprehensible practice of 
employing female children, to perform precisely the same kind of 
labor as that performed by the boys, prevails. The practice of em- 
ploying females in coal pits, says one of the commissioners, is fla- 
grantly disgraceful to a Christian, as well as a civilized country. * * 
* In the Flockton and Thornhill pits the system is even more indecent ; 
for though the girls are clothed, at least three-fourths of the men for 
whom they hurry work, are in a state of almost complete nudity, and 
in this state they assist one another to fill the corves eighteen or 
twenty times a day. I have seen this done myself, not once or twice, 
but frequently. " Girls," continues the report, " from five to eighteen, 
perform all the work of boys. There is no distinction whatever in 
their coming up the shafts, or in going down — in the mode of hui-rying 
or thrusting — in the weights or corves, or in the distances they are 
hurried — in wages or dues. They are to be found alike vulgar in 
manner and obscene in language ; but who can feel surprised at their 
debased condition, when they are known to be constantly associated, 
and associated only with men and boys, living and laboring in a state 
of disgusting nakedness and brutality ; while they have themselvea 



214 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

no other garment than a ragged shirt, or in the absence of that, a pair 
of broken trowsers, to cover their persons \" 

In the raining districts of Scotland, the employment of females in 
this description of labor, is generally considered to be so degrading, 
that " other classes of operatives refuse intermarriage with the daugh- 
ters of colliers who have vrrought in the pits." 

The report of the collieries, &c., in the east of Scotland, by Mr. 
Franks, contains correct and authentic information as to the condi- 
tion of the laborers employed in them. The descriptions are illus- 
trated by drawings, exhibiting the operations and position of the 
children in the mines. The following extract from his report will 
enable our readers to form a conception of the places and kind of 
work devolving upon the children and young persons pursuing their 
several occupations : 

" Many of the mines in the east of Scotland are conducted in the 
most primitive manner ; the one horse gin to draw up the bucket, no 
separation in the shaft, the ventillation carried on in many places by 
means of old shafts left open, &c. The negligence of underground 
workings corresponds with the above, the roads being carelessly at- 
tended to, and the workings very irregularly carried on, so that the 
oppression of the labor is as much increased by the want of good 
superintendence as by the irregularity of the work-people them- 
selves. The roads are, most commonly, wet, but in some places so 
much so as to come up to the ankle ; and where the roofs are soft, 
the dripping and slushy state of the entire chamber is such that none 
can be said to work in it in a dry condition, and the coarse apparel 
the labor requires absorbs so much of the drainage of the water as to 
keep the workmen as thoroughly saturated as if they were working 
continually in water. 

" The workings in the narrow seams are sometimes 100 to 200 
yards from the main roads, so that the females have to crawl back- 
wards and forwards with their small carts, in seems in many cases 
not exceeding 20 to 28 mches in heic/ht." 

In fact, says a very intelligent witness, (Mr. Wm. Hunter, the min- 
ino- foreman of Ormiston colliery,) upon the occasion of being author- 
ized to issue an order to exclude women and children from the col- 
liery, " in fact, women always did the lifting, or heavy part of the 
work, and neither they nor the children were treated like human 
beings, nor are they where they are employed. Females submit to 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 215 

work in places -where no man or even lad could be got to labor in ; 
they ^vork on bad roads, up to their knees in water, in a posture 
nearly double. They have swelled haunches and ankles, and are pre- 
maturely brought to the grave, or what is worse, a lingering exist- 
ence." " In surveying the workings of an extensive colliery under 
ground," says Robert Bold, the eminent miner, " a married woman 
came forward, groaning under an excessive weight of coals, trembling 
in every nerve, and almost unable to keep her knees from sinking 
from under her. On coming up, she said in a plaintive and melan- 
choly voice, ' Oh, sir, this is sore, sore, sore work ! I wish to God 
that the first woman who tried to bear coals had broken her back, 
and never would have tried it again.' " 

Now, when the nature of this horrible labor is taken into consid- 
eration, the extreme severity, its regular duration of from 12 to 14 
hours daily, and sometimes much longer ; the damp, heated, and 
deleterious atmosphere, in which the work is carried on ; the tender 
age and sex of the workers ; when it is considered that such labor 
is performed, not in isolated instances, selected to excite compassion, 
but that it may be regarded as the type of the every day existence 
of hundreds of our fellow creatures — a picture is presented of deadly 
physical oppression and systematic slavery, of which those unac- 
quainted with such facts would not credit as existing in the British 
dominions. 

We may add, as worthy of remark, that to this labor, which is at 
once so repulsive and severe, the girls arc invariably sent at an ear- 
lier age than boys — from a notion very generally entertained amongst 
parents, that they are more acute and obedient. 

Such is a sample of British slavery ; — let us hereafter hear no more 
of the supposed horrors of negro slavery from that quarter! The 
stain, John Bull, is on your own hands ! 

MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS, 

Coal, observes an anonymous writer, is evidently a result of the 
decomposition of the compound of bodies from which it is obtained. It 
consists of the greatest part of the earthy principle of these com- 
pound bodies, with which a part of the saline principle, and some of 
the phlogiston of the decomposed oil, arc fixed and combined very 
intimately. Coal can never be formed but by the phlogiston of a 
body which has been in an oily state ; hence it cannot be formed by 



216 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

sulphur, phosphorus, metals, nor by any other substance the phlo- 
giston of which is not in an oily state. Every oily matter treated 
with fire in close vessels, furnishes true coal; so that whenever a 
charry residuum is left, we may be certain that the substance em- 
ployed contains oil. 

The inflammable principle of coal, although it proceeds from oil, 
certainly is not oil, but pure phlogiston, since coal added to sulphuric 
acid can form sulphur ; to phosphoric acid, can form phosphorus, &c., 
and since oil can produce none of these efiFects till it has been decom- 
posed and reduced to the state of coal. Besides, the phenomena ac- 
companying the burning coal are different from those which happen 
when oily substances are burnt. The flame of charcoal is not so 
bright as that of oil, and produces no flame or soot. 

All the phlogiston of coal is not burnt in the open air, particularly 
when the combustion is slow. One part of it exhales without decom- 
position, and forms a vapor, or an invisible and insensible gas. This 
vapor, (which is, or at least contains a great deal of fixed air,) is found 
to be very pernicious, and to affect the animal system in such a man- 
ner as to occasion death in a very short time. For this reason it is 
dangerous to remain in a close room or place where charcoal or any 
other sort of coal is burnt. Persons struck by this vapor are stunned, 
faint, suffer a violent headache, and fall down senseless and motion- 
less. The best method of recovering them is, simply, timely exposure 
to the open air, and by making them swallow vinegar, and breathe 
its steam. 

Among coals considerable difference is observable, which proceeds 
from difference in the bodies from which they are made ; some coals, 
particularly, are more combustible than others. This combustibility 
seems to depend on the greater or less quantity of saline principle 
they contain ; that is, the more of the saline principle it contains, the 
more easily it decomposes and burns. This difference in coal varies 
in about the same proportion that the difference in the properties of 
various kinds of wood varies when exposed to fire. The difference 
in coal, unlike that in wood, relates also to the localities where it is 
found ; it is, therefore, rarely that the opposite extremes of its ana- 
lytical properties are united in the same spot. We append an analy- 
sis of these two extremes — the first being that of the purest and best 
coal, and the latter the inferior and least valuable. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 217 



ANALYSIS OF ANTHRACITE. 

! Carbon, . . . . . . 90 per cent. 
Volatile matter, 6^ " 
Ashes, 3| " 



100 



i Carbon, 77 per cent. 
A^'olatile matter, 11 " 
Ashes 12 " 



100 



This difforence in the quality of coal is again perceptible in refer- 
ence to its tceight. We append the following, which will exhibit the 
character of our anthracites according to the weight of each respec- 
tively, per cubic yard. 

WEIGHT OF ANTHRACITE COAL. 

FIRST, OR SCHUYLKILL REGION. 
Localities j}roceedi>ig from West to Fast. Weiijht of a cubic yard in lbs. 

Lykens' Valley, _ 2224 

Stony Creek, six mile openings, .... 2244 

Big Flats, about 2351 

Rausch Gap, 2453 

Lorberry Creek, 2484 

PottsviUe, mean 2504 

Tamaqua, Vein N 2700 

Lehigh, Mauch Chunk, ..... 2015 

Nesquehouing, 2646 

SECOND, OR MIDDLE REGION. 

Localities jiroceeding from West to East. Weight of a cubic yard in Iba. 

West Mahanoy Coal, 2313 

Hazleton, 2G15 

Girardville 2700 

Beaver Meadow, 2700 

The Pennsylvania anthracite appears to be altogether heavier than 
the European, as will appear from the following : 

EUROPEAN. 

South Wales, (Swansea,) 2131 

France, (Grenoble,) ' . jgoQ 

Black Spring Gap, " . " 2351 

19 2C 



218 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

PENNSYLVANIAN. 

Wilkesbarre, (Baltimore co.) .... 2484 

Pottsville, 2649 

Tamaqua, heaviest, 2808 

The bituminous coals of the United States are also considerably 
heavier than those of Europe. With but one or two exceptions, all 
coals of the United States exceed one ton in weight to the cubic yard, 
while there is no instance of the bituminous coal of Europe reaching 
that weight. 

Prof. Johnson, who conducted, by authority of Congress, a series 
of experiments on American coals, applicable to steam navigation, 
and to other purposes, in his report to that body, in 1844, says that 
the justly celebrated foreign bituminous coals of New Castle, Liver- 
pool, Scotland, Pictou,and Sidney — coals which constitute the present 
reliance of the great lines of Atlantic steamers — are fully equalled, or 
rather surpassed in strength, by the analogous coals of Eastern Vir- 
ginia ; that they are decidedly surpassed by all the free-burning coals 
of Maryland and Pennsylvania, and that an equally decided advan- 
tage in steam-generating power is enjoyed by the anthracites over the 
foreign coals tried whether we consider them under equal weights or 
equal bulks. 

Mr. Johnson remarks, that coal, '• when sold by weight, and used 
on shore, the weight per cubic foot is a point of little moment. Space 
for storage is easily obtained. But, in steam navigation, bulk, as well 
as weight, demands attention ; and a difference of twenty per cent., 
which experiment shows to exist between the highest and lowest 
average weight of a cubic foot of different coals, assumes a value of 
no little magnitude." This is obviously true, since, if other things be 
equal, the length of a voyage must depend on the amount of evapo- 
rative power afforded by the fuel which can be stowed in the bunkers 
of a steamer, always of limited capacity. 

GENERAL FEATURES OF PENNSYLVANIA ANTHRACITE. 

The anthracites have specific gravities, varying from 1'39 to 1*61 ; 
retain their form when exposed to a heat of ignition, and undergo no 
proper intumescence while parting with the small portion of volatile 
matter which they contain ; or, if changed at all, are only disinte- 
grated into angular fragments. Their flame is generally short, of a 



ANTHRACITE COAL FOKMATION. 219 

blue color, and consequently of little illuminating power. They are 
ignited -with difficulty, give an intense concentrated heat, but gene- 
rally become extinct while yet a considerable quantity remains un- 
burnt in the grate. 

In experimenting with American coals, Prof. Johnson thus de- 
scribes the differences between the red and white ash coals of our 
region : 

FIRST, OP THE RED-ASH, PEACH MOUNTAIN. 

The sample exhibited a deep jet-black color, an uneven splintery 
fracture ; a lustre varying from dull to shining, according to the di- 
rection in which the fracture is made. Like all the other anthracites, 
it was wholly unaffected by atmospheric influences in a period of 
eighteen months, during which time they were in my charge. 

This sample is more easily separated at the surfaces of deposition 
than most of the white-ash coals, but less so tlian that of Lykens' 
Valley. It has no exterior indication of impurity, such as discolora- 
tion from oxide of iron, or efflorescence of metallic salts. It has 
certain surfaces polished and minutely striated, appearing as if they 
had been subjected to friction under intense pressure. This feature 
is not, however, of so frequent occurrence in this, as in many other 
samples of anthracite. 

Its specific gravity, determined by two specimens, was found to be 
1"4G5 and 1"4632 — the mean of which enables us to calculate the 
weight of a cubic foot of solid coal at 91'505 pounds. But the weight 
of 70 charges of two cubic feet each, in the state of lumps, gave 37"7939 
pounds per cubic foot, proving that the actual weight in the market 
is but 0'5878 of the calculated weight in the mine. The same data 
prove that 42*64 cubic feet of space will be required for one gross 
ton. 

i Carbon, 86"087 
Volatile matter, ^ . . . . 6"965 

Earthy matter, 6*948 

SECOND, OP THE WHITE-ASH, SUMMIT HILL. 

The aspect and character of this coal leaves no doubt that it will 
remain for any desired length of time, either under shelter or in the 
open air, without material change. 



220 OFF-HANDSKETCIIES. 

The coal was received generally in lumps, requiring to be reduced 
in order to be burned advantageously on the grate. Its aspect is that 
of most of the harder antliracites, possessing a deep black color, 
shining uneven and splintery fracture, with occasional exposure of 
conchoidal forms ; a striated, rather grayish appearance, generally 
indicative of considerable portions of earthy impurity, marks certain 
surfaces. The seams of deposition are seldom followed by the frac- 
tures. 

The specific gravity of two specimens was found to be 1'6126 and 
1'5679, from which the calculated weight per cubic foot are 100*79 
sad 97'99 pounds respectively, or on an average, 99'39 pounds. 

[Carbon, 88-052 

Analysis I Volatile matter, 5"235 

( Earthy matter, 6'663 

The foregoing tables will, doubtless, give a satisfactory exhibit as 
to the relative value of the difierent coals named for steam navigation, 
iron making, or for generating steam ordinarily. For stove use, the 
following experiment will determine the respective value of the white 
and red-ash varieties. Two rooms of nearly the same size, and having 
the same temperature, were selected to ascertain how many pounds of 
each kind would be required to heat them to a temperature of 65 de- 
grees, during a period of fifteen hours, when tlie temperature out of 
doors, at 9 A. M., was at ten degrees below the freezing point. Two 
days were occupied in the trial, so that the red and white-ash coals 
might be used in alternate rooms. Fires were made at 9 A. M. and 
continued until 12 P. M. Two thermometers (one in each room,) 
were suspended at the greatest distance from the grates, and the tem- 
perature was carefully registered every hour. The result was as 
follows : thirty-one pounds, each day, of the Schuylkill red-ash coal, 
gave a mean temperature of 64 degrees ; and thirty-seven pounds, 
each day, of the Lehigh white-ash, taken from a vein of high repute, 
gave a mean temperature of 63 degrees — thus making 2000 pounds of 
the red-ash to be equal to 2*387 pounds of the white-ash, or red-ash 
coal at $5.50 per ton, to be equal to white-ash ash at $4.61. This, 
says Mr. Taylor, settles the question between the two coals on the 
score of economy. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 221 



COMPARATB'E VALUE OP ANTHRACITE AND BITUMINOUS COALS. 

An impression has long prevailed that, for purposes of steam 
navigation, Cumberland coal vras generally superior to anthracite, 
and it always enjoyed greater favor in the market. This impres- 
sion must be destroyed — for a greater mistake never existed on 
the public mind. A series of experiments were recently instituted 
on several steamers of the United States Navy, under order of the 
government, the result of which is a triumphant vindication of an- 
thracite coal, not only for steam vessels, but for generating steam 
under all circumstances — broadly establishing its vast superiority 
over bituminous and every other known coal. These experiments 
were brought about principally through the instrumentality of the 
Hon. James Cooper, our distinguished senator in Congress. The 
previous experiments of Prof. Johnson were unsatisfactory, because 
the tests were prosecuted on too small a scale to ascertain the real 
merits of anthracite ; and in the manner of burning it, he committed 
a mistake which led him greatly to depreciate its value compared 
with Cumberland coal, in equal weight. These mistakes were 
apparent to Mr. Cooper, and he therefore took up the subject, and 
called the attention of Congress to it. A resolution offered by him 
was passed at once, requiring the Secretary of the Navy to institute 
experiments, the result of which we shall lay before the reader. Mr. 
Cooper resides at Pottsville, and his exertions iii asserting, and thus 
establishing, with the broad seal of the United States government, 
the superiority of anthracite over all other coals, are deserving, and 
will receive, the lasting thanks of the thousands engaged in the trade 
of Pennsylvania. 

Experiments tcith Biiutninoua Ooal, made with the boilers of the United States 
Steamer Fulton, at the New Yorlc Navy Yard, January, 1852. 
The temperature of the water in the boilers being at 38° F., and the tempera- 
ture of the boiler room 18°, the fires were lighted at ten hours thirty minutes, 
A. M. At eleven hours forty minutes, A. M., the temperature of the water was 
212° F., and steam began to be generated at the atmospheric pressure. Time 
raising steam, seventy minutes. The temperature of the boiler-room had now 
increased from 18° to 32° F. At eleven hours fifty-four minutes, A. 31. the steam 
pressure in the boilers was thirty pounds per square inch above the atmosphere. 
Time of obtaining thirty pounds of steam, one hour twent}'-four minutes from a 
temperature of 32° F. Up to this time there had been fed into the furnaces one 
19* 



222 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



thousand pounds of dry pine wood, equal to five hundred pounds of coal, and 
two thousand eight hundred and twenty-six pounds of (Cumberland) bituminous 
coal. Total, three thousand three hundred and twenty-six pounds. 

The engine was now set in operation to work off all the steam, which the above 
amount of coal would generate, no more being fed to the furnaces. In fifty- 
three minutes the steam pressure was reduced from forty pounds to five pounds, 
and the number of double strokes of piston made from forty-one to seven, when 
the engine was stopped. During the time the engine was in operation, the 
steam was cut off at half-stroke. 

The engine consisted of one cylinder, fifty inches in diameter, and ten feet 
four inches stroke. The space between the cut-off valve and piston, including clear- 
ance, to be filled with steam per stroke is 3'094 cubic feet. The calculation of the 
amount of water evaporated is made from the quantities of steam measured out 
by the cylinder, divided by the relative bulks of steam of the experimental 
pressures and the water from which it is generated. 

The initial pressure of the steam in the cylinder is taken at one pound less 
than in the boilers. The space displacement of piston filled with steam, per 
stroke, is 70-448 cubic feet, to which must be added the above 3'094 cubic feet, 
making a total of 73 '542 cubic feet. 





Pressure above atmos- 


Number of double strokes 


Cubic feet of water 


Time.— Minutes. 


phere, per square 
inch, in pounds. 


of piston made. 


evaporated. 


6 


32^ 


41 


10.326 


5 


25 


34 


7.311 


5 


221^ 


32 


6.483 


5 


19^ 


31^ 


5.879 


5 


16^ 


31 


5.352 


5 


14 


30 


4.796 


5 


111^ 


26 


3.797 


5 


9 


23 


3.075 


5 


1 


21 


2.631 


5 


12 


1.393 


2 


4>4 


7 


0.868 


51.911 



Taking the weight of a cubic foot of sea water at 64-3 pounds, the total weight 
evaporated is (51-911 X 64-3)=3337-877 pounds. The boilers of the Fulton con- 
tained 82-000 pounds of wsiter at the initial temperature of 32° F., which was 
raised to 212° F., and 3337-877 pounds of it evaporated by three thousand three 
hundred and twenty-six pounds of coal. 

Now it requires five times and a half as much caloric to evaporate a given bulk 
of water from a temperature 212° F., so as to raise it to that temperature from 
32° F. The quantity of fuel, therefore, expended in raising the water from the 
initial temperature to that of 212° F., compared to that expended in evaporating 
the 3337-877 pounds from that temperature, will be as (82-000 X 180°)=14,760,- 
000 to (3337-877 X990°)=3,304,498-23, or as 4-4666 to 1-000; consequently 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 223 



3S« 

4.<ees 



==?44"6 pounds of coal were consumed in evaporating 3337'87 pounds of 
sea-water, or 4-483 pounds of water per pound of coal. It was intended to have 
made, on the following day, an experiment, under precisely the same circum- 
stances as above, with anthracite ; but it was found impossible from the presence 
of ice to work the engine, the experiment was therefore only made so far as re- 
gards the time of getting up steam, with the following results, viz : 

The fires were lighted with the same qxtantity and kind of wood, and the same 
quantify of coal that had been used the day previous. At seven hours and 
twenty minutes, A. M. the temperature of the water in the boiler being 38° F., 
and that of the boiler room 32° F., with the natural draft, the temperature of the 
water at eight hours and five minutes was 212° (steam,) and the boiler room 43, F. 
Time to generate steam, forty-five minutes. At eight hours and twenty minutes 
the steam pressure in the boiler was thirty pounds per square inch. Time of 
obtaining thirty pounds of steam from water at 38° F. was one hour. 

With the bituminous coal it will be seen that it required seventy minutes to 
obtain steam from water at the temperature of 32° F., while it only required 
forty-five minutes with the anthracite ; being a difi"erence of time in this respect 
of about thirty-six per cent, of the bituminous time. 

The data for a comparison of the evaporative values of the coals was obtained 
by another experiment as follows : 

Experiments with White Ash Anthracite made icith the boilers of the United 
States Steamer Fulton, in New York Bay, Ja.nuary I, 1852, 

This experiment was made with the steamer under way, while steaming with 
steady pressure of steam and revolutions of the wheel, as follows : 

Steam pressure [initial) in cylinder per square inch above the atmosphere, 
twenty-five pounds ; double strokes of piston per minute, twenty-one and one- 
third; cutting off at from commencement of stroke, three-eighths; consumption 
of coal per hour, eighteen hundred pounds. 

From the above data, there was filled per stroke 52"837 cubic feet of the space 
displacement of the piston, to which add 3'096 cubic feet of space comprised be- 
tween the cut-oflf valve and piston, making a total of 55-931 cubic feet of steam of 
twenty-five pounds pressure, which would be per minute 55-931 X42%=2386-39 
cubic feet, and per hour 143,183-40 cubic feet. Dividing this last number by 
the relative bulks of steam of the pressure generated, and the water from which 
it was generated, we obtain ^^J ° =209-332 cubic feet of sea-water, which 
at 64-3 pounds per cubic foot, amounts to 13,460-047 pounds, evaporated by 
eighteen hundred pounds of coal, or seven thousand four hundred and seventy- 
pounds of sea-water per pound of coal. 

3. Experiment with White Ash Anthracite Coal made with the boilers of the putnp- 
ing-cngine at the United States Dry Bock, Xcw York N'avy Yard. 

A comparative experiment was made with the boilers of the pumping-engine 
at the New York Navy Yard, in October, 1851, on the comparative advantages 



224 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

of anthracite and bituminous coals ; all the conditions were as nearly alike as 
practicable. With the anthracite coal a combustion of nine hundred and eighty 
pounds per hour, evaporated a sufiBcient quantity of water to supply the engine with 
steam of twelve pounds pressure above the atmosphere, per square inch, for four 
hundred and twenty-five double strokes of piston per hour, the steam pressures 
being alike in both cases; the economical values of the coals will be represented 
by the number of double strokes of piston made, divided by the quantity of 
fuel per given unit of timej or will be, anthracite j^j|=0'4337: bituminous 
'"' = 0'2673, or the anthracite is better than the bituminous in the proportion 

1100 ' * 

of:::v,:=i-623toi-ooo. 

It is proper to remark that these boilers were expressly designed for burning 
bituminous coal. 

COMPARISON. 

The coals used in these experiments were the kinds furnished by the agents 
of the government for the use of the United States Navy Yard and Steamers, 
and was taken indiscriminately from the piles in the yard without assorting. 

The bituminous was from the " Cumberland" mines. The anthracite was the 
kind known as "White Ash Schuylkill." 

From the preceding data, it appears that in regard to the rapidity of "getting 
up" steam, the anthracite exceeds the bituminous thirty-six per cent. 

That in economical evaporation per unit of fuel, the anthracite exceeds the 
bituminous in the proportion of 7'478 to 4-483 or 66-8 per cent 

It will also be perceived, that the result of the third experiment on the boilers 
of the pumping-engine at the New York Dry Dock, which experiment wai 
entirely differently made and calculated from the first and second experimentSf 
gave an economical superiority to the anthracite over the bituminous of 62-» 
per cent. ; a remarkably close approximation to the result obtained by the ex- 
periments on the " Fulton's" boilers, (66-8 per cent.,) particularly when it is 
stated that the boilers and grates of the pumping-engine were made with a view 
to burning bituminous coal, which has been used since their completion ; while 
those of the " Fulton" were constructed for the use of anthracite. The general 
characters of the boilers were similar, both having return drop flues. 

Thus it will be seen, from the experiments, that, without allowing for the 
difference of weight of coal that can be stowed in the same bulk, the engine 
using anthracite could steam about two-thirds longer than with bituminous. 

These are important considerations in favor of anthracite coal for the uses of 
the Navy; without taking into account the additional amount of anthracite 
more than bituminous that can bo placed on board a vessel in the same bunkers, 
or the advantages of being free from smoke, which in a war-steamer may at 
times be of the utmost importance in concealing the movements of the vessel, 
and also the almost, if not altogether, entire freedom from spontaneous com- 
bustion. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 225 

The results of the experiments made last spring on the United States steamer 
"Vixen" were so favorable, that I recommended to the Bureau of Construction, 
Ac, the use of anthracite for all naval steamers at that time having, or to be 
thereafter fitted with iron boilers ,• particularly the steamers " Fulton," " Prince- 
ton," and " Alleghany," the boilers for all of which were designed with a special 
view to the use of anthracite, and with the approval of that bureau. 

The " Fulton's" bunkers are now filled with anthracite, and the consump- 
tions referred to in the engineer's report on that steamer show, during the 
short time she has been at sea, that the anticipated economy has been fully 
realized. 

In view of the results contained in this report, I would respectfully recom- 
mend to the Bureau of Yards and Docks, the use of anthracite in the several 
Navy Yards, and especially for the engine of the Dry Dock at the New York 
Navy Yard. 

In conclusion, I desire the approval of the Bureau to make such investiga- 
tions as my duties will permit, with regard to the experience of the durability 
of copper boilers, when used with bituminous or anthracite coal ; which can be 
done without any specific expenditure. 

The inquiry may prove highly important to the Navy Department, as the 
use of anthracite under copper boilers has been heretofore generally considered 
as more injurious than bituminous coal, and is consequently not used by gov- 
ernment in vessels having copper boilers. 

Respectfully submitted, by your obedient servant, 

CHARLES B. STUART, 

Engineer-in-Ohief, U. S. Navy. 
Commodore Joseph Smith, 

Chief of Bureau of Yarda and Doche. 

Some further remarks of Mr. Stuart, in reference to this subject, may be 
found in his report to the Secretary of the Navy, dated May 2, 1852. This por- 
tion of the Report combats the experiments of Prof. Johnson, and exhibits the 
mistake he madej as a practical test, in declaring the comparative qualities of 
the two coals for steam-marine purposes — the experiments having been, upon 
the whole, too hasty, incomplete, and limited, to properly develope the real 
strength and value of the anthracite, while they were sufficiently large to ex- 
hibit the bituminous coal to the best advantaare. 



2D 



226 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



ANTHRACITE COAL TRADE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 

The following table exhibits the quantity of antliracite coal sent 
to market from the different regions in Pennsylvania, from the com- 
mencement of the trade in 1820 to 1851, inclusive, together with the 
annual increase : 



Years. 


Schuylkill 


Lehigh. 


Lacka- 
wanna. 


Other re- 
gions. 


Aggregate 


Annual in- 
crease. 


1820 




365 






365 




1821 




1,073 






1,073 




1822 




2,240 






2,240 




1823 




5,823 






5,823 




1824 




9,541 






9,541 




1825 


6,500 


28,393 






34,893 


25,352 


1826 


16,767 


31,280 






48,047 


1.3,154 


1827 


31,360 


32,074 






63,434 


15,837 


1828 


47,284 


30,232 






77,516 


13,082 


1829 


79,973 


25,110 


7,000 




112,083 


34,567 


1830 


89,984 


41,750 


43,000 




174,734 


62,551 


1831 


81,854 


40,966 


54,000 




176,820 


2,086 


1832 


209,271 


70,000 


84,600 




363,871 


187,051 


1833 


252,971 


123,000 


111,777 




487,748 


123,877 


1834 


226,692 


106,244 


4.3,700 




376,636 


decrease. 


1835 


339,508 


131,250 


90,000 




560,758 


184,122 


1836 


432,045 


148,211 


103,861 




682,428 


121,670 


1837 


523,152 


223,902 


115,387 




881,476 


199,048 


1838 


433,875 


213,615 


78,207 




739,293 


decrease. 


1839 


442,608 


221,025 


122,300 


11,930 


819,327 


80,034 


1840 


452,291 


225,318 


148,470 


15,505 


865,414 


46,087 


1841 


584,692 


143,037 


192,270 


21,463 


958,899 


93,485 


1842 


540,892 


272,546 


205,253 


57,346 


1,108,001 


149,102 


1843 


677,295 


267,793 


227,605 


86,000 


1,263,539 


155,538 


1844 


839,934 


377,002 


251,005 


127,993 


1,631,669 


368,130 


1845 


1,083,796 


429,453 


273,435 


188,401 


2,023,052 


391,783 


1846 


1,237,002 


523,002 


320,000 


205,075 


2,343,992 


320,940 


1847 


1,583,374 


643,973 


388,203 


299,302 


2,982,309 


638,317 


1848 


1,652,835 


680,746 


437,500 


256,627 


3,089,238 


106,929 


1849 


1,605,126 


801,246 


454,240 


30.3,730 


3,242,541 


153,403 


1850 


1,712,007 


722,622 


543,353 


276,339 


3,254,321 


11,780 


1851 


2,184,240 


989,296 


788,495 


415,099 


4,377,130 


1,122,809 


17,367,628 


7,562,128 


5,080,721 


2,264,792 


32,755,232 





The next table gives the actual cost of the works mentioned in it, but 
does not include the running-stock or fixtures, which would probably 
swell the amount at least twenty to twenty-five millions additional. 
Thus, the three principal improvements, including equipments, have 
a capital investment of nearly $35,000,000 ; viz. : the Reading Rail- 
road, $17,000,000— the Schuylkill Navigation, $10,200,000, and the 
Lehigh Navigation, $7,500,000. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION 



227 



CANAL AND KAILROAD SYSTEM CONNECTED WITH THE 



COAL TRADE. 

Lehigh Slackwator Navigation, , 

Lehigh and Susquehanna Kailroad, 

]\Liuch Chunk and Summit Railroads, 

Dehiwaro Division of Pennsylvania Canal, 

Beaver Meadow llailroad, 

Hazleton llailroad, . ' . 

Buck Mountain Railroad, .... 

Summit Railroad, ..... 

Delaware and Hudson Canal, 

Morris Canal, ..... 

Schuylkill Canal Navigation, 

Philadelphia, Reading and Pottsville Railroad, 

Little Schuylkill Railroad, 

Mine Hill Railroad, with Laterals, . 

Danville and Pottsville Railroad, (44 m. unfinished) 

Mount Carbon Railroad, ■ . . , 

Mount Carbon and Port Carbon Railroad 

Schuylkill Valley Railroad, 

Mill Creek Railroad, ..... 

Lykens' Valley Railroad, .... 

Wisconisco Canal, ..... 

Swatara Railroad, ..... 

North Branch Canal and Extension, (unfinished) 

Dauphin Company's Railroads, (unfinished) 

Railroads by Individuals, (estimated) 

Railroads under ground, (estimated) . 

Railroads proposed or under way, in the coal regions, 

Union Canal — (estimated for coal trade), 

Total length and cost, .... 



Miles. 

37* 

20 

40 

43 

26 

10 

4 

2 

108 

102 

108 

98 

20 

55 

30 

7 

2i 

14 

6 

16 

12 

4 

163 

52 

120 

200 

100 



Cost. 

$4,455,000 

1,354,000 

400,000 

1,735,958 

360,000 

120,000 

40,000 

20,000 

3,250,000 

4,000,000 

5,785,000 

11,500,000 

500,000 

550,000 

680,000 

155,000 

120,000 

300,000 

120,000 

200,000 

370,000 

20,000 

2,790,310 

1,500,000 

250,000 

250,000 

300,000 

1,000.000 



1400 $42,034,268 

The Philadelphia Korth American, a few months since, published a 
series of articles on the future of the coal trade and tlie canal and 
railway system connected with it, which have some permanent points 
of interest, and we shall here introduce some extracts : 

The Reading Railroad Company alone has invested in its works a sum about 
equal to one-half the capit.al of the late bank of the United States, with annual 
earnings to the amount of $2,314,340, a net annual profit of $1,125,393, and an 
annual tonnage of coal shipped from its port at Richmond greater than the whole 
foreign tonnage of the citi/ of Xew York. Surely such an establishment deserves 
to be better known than it is, not only to capitalists, but to citizens generally. 

The history of the Reading Railroad, in its main features, is like that of almost 
all our public works, except, perhaps, the Pennsylvania Railroad, now in pro- 



228 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

gress. It was commenced on a capital not sufficient to complete it. The pro- 
perty acquii-ed by the original stockholders has, therefore, been pledged suc- 
cessively to bondholders and holders of preferred stock, to obtain the necessary 
means of carrying out the original design. These several investments may be 
summed up briefly as follows : — 

Common stock, ..... $4,159,832 

Preferred stock, .... 1,551,800 

Sinking Fund stock, ..... 393,700 

Bonds 10,794,183 



Total, ....... $16,899,515 

In obtaining the large amount of money represented in these figures, during 
a period of sixteen years, from 1836 to 1862, no doubt many sacrifices have been 
made. Had the original proprietors entered upon the business with $17,000,000 
cash in hand, it is but reasonable to suppose that all the property now owned 
by the company might have been acquired with a much less expenditure of 
money. Without professing to be entirely familiar with the history of its finan- 
cial operations, this much we suppose may be taken for granted. The import- 
ant practical question, however, still remains, namely, is the property, repre- 
sented by this $16,899,515, capable of perpetuating itself, and at the same time 
of producing a fair annual dividend on the whole amount ? 

Before proceeding to answer this question, it is proper to remark that the 
work of the company is now fairly complete. The road itself is made, with a 
double track for the entire distance, from tide water at Richmond to the mines, 
and with the numerous sidings and turnouts necessary for such a vast business. 
The company have obtained, by purchase, the city terminus of the State Rail- 
road, extending three and a half miles from Broad and Willow to the junction 
on the other side of the Schuylkill. They have secured a site for a depot of 
the largest dimensions at the junction of Broad street and Willow, besides con- 
structing an office with ample accommodations, for the general business of the 
company, in Fourth street. They have, not only their immense wharves at 
Richmond, but sufficient additional wharf room secured in the same vicinity, to 
supply any additional increase to their business. They have their iron foundry, 
brass foundry, and steam tilt-hammer shop, for supplying and repairing the 
necessary machinery at the shortest notice and the cheapest rates. 

The only increase to their permanent investment, therefore, that seems at 
all possible, is in the running power. The company have at present invested 
in this item, that is, in engines and cars, $2,276,576. With this they can per- 
form the general business of the road, and bring to market 2,000,000 tons of 
coal annually. The utmost capacity of the road, suppose it to be covered with 
a continuous line of cars, running night and day, is estimated at 4,000,000 tons. 
Should the business of the road ever reach its utmost capacity, as it is not at all 
impossible it may, an additional investment in locomotives and cars would be 
necessary. But such an increase of business, all other expenses remaining com- 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 229 

parativcly stationary, would be accompanied with such an enormous increase of 
profits as to make the procuring of the necessary capital the easiest thing imag- 
inable. Indeed, it is not improbable, in such an emergency, that the additional 
machinery would be obtained out of the excess of profits, and- without increasing 
the capital investment. 

Be that as it may, one thing is perfectly obvious, namely, that the work of 
the Reading Railroad Company is now substantially completed. Their last large 
investment was made in 1850 and 1851, when they bought the city terminus of 
the State Railroad, the additional wharf room in Richmond, and the real estate 
in Fourth street, and at the comer of Broad and Willow. They now have 
access to a port of their own (Richmond) for all coal intended for the foreign 
or coastwise market, and direct access, on a road of their own, to the very heart 
of the city, for aU coal intended for home consumption. They have the neces- 
sary oflBces, depots, wharves, workshops, and running power, all in a state of 
complete efficiency. More than even this, they have adopted a settled policy of 
laying aside from their annual earnings a sum sufficient to renew the wear and 
tear of the road and machinery, and to perpetuate the property in its present 
condition. This sura, (3 cents per 100 tons a mile,) known as the renewal fund, 
has been fixed upon after an experience of ten years, and a comparison with the 
experience of all other roads in the world engaged in the same kind of business, 
and has been found amply sufficient. 

We repeat, therefore, the only question to the capitalist is, whether this vast 
machinery, a railroad of a hundred miles, with its multiplied appurtenances, is 
capable of earning for its owners a steady and sufficient income on the capital 
invested in it 

The last year (1851) was a trial one. The Company was put to a more 
earnest trial of strength, probably, than it will ever be again. There was at the 
beginning of the year a general misunderstanding among the parties interested 
in the difierent coal regions. A severe and determined competition was the 
result The Lehigh Company and the various New York companies engaged in 
the Lackawanna region, particularly the latter, put their coal at greatly reduced 
prices. To prevent the withdrawal of the trade from the Schuylkill region, the 
Reading Railroad and the Schuylkill Navigation Companies both reduced mate- 
rially their rates for transportation. The railroad reduced its freight on coal 
from $1,53K to $1,22K, or 31 cents per ton.^ This had the desired effect The 
road not only maintained its accustomed amount of business, but largely in- 
creased it What is more, even at these reduced rates, while the stock of its 
main rival, the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company, fell during the competi- 
tion $50 per share, the Reading Railroad earned more than six per cent on its 
whole investment, after paying all expenses, and after laying aside the annual 
sum provided to renew the works and keep them in repair. The gross receipts 
of the road were $2,314,330. The total expenses $1 ,188,936. Add $109,847, (the 
gum set apart for the renewal fund) and we have still a net balance of $1,015,547, 
or a small fraction over six per cent on the entire investment of $16,899,515 
20 



230 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

The effect, therefore, of the keen contest of 1851, has been to show that the 
Reading Railroad can afford to transport coal at rates that would be ruinous to 
all the other companies. The other companies, in view of this clearly estab- 
lished result, have now changed their policy, leaving the railroad free to raise its 
freight without loss of business. The small increase of ten cents per ton, which 
is proposed, and which is now entirely practicable, would, without any increase 
of tonnage, make an addition of $165,000 to the receipts of the company ; or, 
in other words, an increase of four per cent, in the profit of the common stock. 

But there is a prospect, perhaps we might say a certainty, of a largely in- 
creased business. The coal transported on the road in 1851, was one million six 
hundred and fifty thousand two hundred and seventy tons, being an increase of 
two hundred and ninety-eight thousand seven hundred and sixty-eight tons over 
the year previous. Nor was this at the expense of the rival companies. All 
the companies had an increased business. The whole amount of coal brought to 
market from the Schuylkill, Lehigh, and Lackawanna regions, during 1851, was 
one million one hundred and one thousand and iifty-one tons more than in any 
previous year. Yet, with all this increase, the market has not been glutted, the 
price has at no time been such as not to yield profitable results to the producer, 
and the principal markets are at this moment bare. There is not coal enough 
now in the city of New York to last the winter out. 

Taking the increase of last year (two hundred and ninety-eight thousand seven 
hundred and sixty-eight tons) as the basis for a calculation of the business of the 
Reading Railroad for the year 1852, and supposing no special causes to exist en- 
suring even a greater increase, the amount of coal which it will have to trans- 
port the present season will be one million nine hundred and forty-nine thousand 
and thirty-eight tons. But there are reasons why even a greater increase may 
be expected. In the first place, every season thus far has opened some new method 
for using coal profitably in mechanical and commercial business. In the second 
place, the extraordinary severity of the present winter has nearly doubled the 
amount consumed for domestic purposes. The increased consumption from this 
source alone, according to the estimate of those familiar with the subject, is not 
less than three hundred thousand tons. This will make the business unusually 
brisk during the whole of the next season. Under all the circumstances, it can 
hardly be doubted that the railroad during 1852 will be freighted to the full 
capacity of its present engines and cars, say two million tons. 

We have said nothing here of the increase in other items of business. The 
merchandise and passenger business has thus far increased pars passu with that 
of coal. As it constitutes, however, only about one seventh of the whole busi- 
ness of the company, it is not material to the present argument. So far as these 
items are to be accounted at all, they only go to swell the general force of our 
conclusions. 

In estimating the bearing of these conclusions upon the value of the com- 
pany's stock, it should be remembered that this large increase of profits is not to 
be divided equally among the whole sixteen or seventeen millions invested. 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 231 

Nearly eleven millions of this investment consist of bonds bearing a definite in- 
terest of five and six per cent All the net savings of the company, after paying 
the five and six per cent, interest on, say, eleven millions of bonds, are to be 
distributed among $6,105,3.32 of stock. 

Now suppose an increase of twenty-five per cent, in the business of the com- 
pany, which was the rate of increase last year. The gross receipts last year were 
$2,313,330. Add twenty-five per cent, to this, and we have, as a probable con- 
jecture, $2,891,662 as the gross receipts for 1852. The net profits for 1851, 
(after deducting the sum laid aside as a renewal fund,) were 43 8-10 per cent. 
of the gross receipts. The recent successful experiments in the use of anthra- 
cite coal for locomotives will no doubt lessen materially the working expenses, 
and consequently make the net profit bear a stiU larger ratio to the gross income. 
But, supposing the ratio to be the same, 43 8-10 percent, on $2,891,662 gives us 
$1,266,548 as the net profits of 1852. This is on the supposition that the busi- 
ness will continue to bo conducted on the same terms us in 1851. Ijut it will be 
recollected, ten cents per ton additional freight is to be paid on coal, which on 
two million tons would make a net increase to the income of $200,000 addi- 
tional, or $1,466,548 in all. The interest on the bonded debt is about $047,650, 
reckoning it all at six per cent. There would be left $818,898 to be divided 
among $6,105,332 of stock, or a clear dividend of more than thirteen per cent. 
This is a hypothetical statement, exhibiting what may be regarded as a picture 
of probabilities. At least it is so viewed by the friends of the road. 

There is still another feature of the company which tends to impart stability 
to its operations, and which, at this particular time, is supposed to give addi- 
tional value to the stock. They commenced, three years ago, laying aside 
$100,000 annually from their earnings as a sinking fund. This sum is expended 
in buying up and cancelling their own bonds, thus gradually and surely reduc- 
ing t-hcir indebtedness. At the same time, to give the stockholders the fuU 
benefit of the earnings of their property, this $100,000 is distributed among 
them in the form of stock. Thus, should the net earnings of the road for any 
one year be 10 per cent., the shareholders would receive about 7 per cent, in 
cash and 3 per cent, in stock. The stock thus created we have called, for con- 
venience, the sinking fund stock. The plan has been in operation for the last 
three yeai-s, during which time a stock dividend of 91-2 per cent, has been de- 
clared and set aside, but not actually distributed. This accumulation of 9^4 
per cent, sinking fund stock, together with wBatever of the same kind shall be 
created the present year, (making, say, 12 per cent altogether,) is to bo distri- 
buted to the stockholders at the close of 1852, besides a cash dividend such as 
the earnings during the year may warrant. 

If to all these considerations we add the almost indefinite increase of busi- 
ness before the company in coming years, it seems difficult to divine a reason 
why its stock should not ultimately be among the choicest investments in the 
market. If it has not, like the Camden and Amboy Railroad Company, a legal 
monopoly, it has, what is far better than any monopoly of man's making, phy- 



^32 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

sical advantages that enable it eifectually to distance all competition. These 
advantages arise from the nature of its business and the character of the region 
in which it is conducted. It is of the very nature of a heavy coal business, 
that the cars or boats carrying it to market have to return empty. Hence a 
most serious waste in the use of that which is of necessity the main item of 
expense — the motive power. The hauling is all one way. Now in this respect 
the Reading Railroad has a peculiarity which distinguishes it from all other 
railroads in the world. Such is the gradual slope of the Schuylkill region, 
through which the railroad runs, that the track has on an average a descending 
grade of about six feet to the mile, the whole distance from the mines to tide 
water. In other words, a great part of the actual transportation is effected by 
the mere force of gravity. The engine which brings a loaded train down is 
only required to be powerful enough to take the empty cars back. In this 
respect it has an advantage over every other railroad in existence for this spe- 
cific business — an advantage which depends, not upon any act of legislation, 
but upon the unrepealable laws of nature, as its main business does upon one 
of the most imperative of the wants of man. 

The anthracite coal trade has thus far doubled itself every five or six years. 
In reference to the future, the smallest rate of increase that we have ever 
heard named, as among the probabilities of the case, is that of 20 per cent, per 
annum. Taking this ratio as the basis of conjecture, we have the following 
exhibit of the probable consumption of coal for the next three years : 

Tons. 

1851 (actual) 4,383,899 

1852 (conjectural) 5,269,678 

1853 do 6,312,813 

1854 do 7,577,375 

What are the existing means for getting this large amount of coal to market? 
AYe say " existing," because, with the heavy amount of capital already invested 
in the business, and centered in the hands of four leading companies, it is not 
probable that any new means will be very soon called into existence. Four lines 
already established and in working order, and controlling a capital of not less 
than $45,000,000, render any new enterprise, of the nature of a competition, a very 
formidable undertaking. Indeed, we might almost dismiss as idle, all conjec- 
tures as to the establishment of new coal lines until the present lines are worked 
to the extent of their capacity. 

The question then recurs, what is the capacity of our several lines for the 
transportation of coal. 

"We begin with the Delaware and Hudson Canal. The principal part of the 
coal transported by this company is that mined by themselves at or near Car- 
bondale. This coal is first transported by railroad sixteen miles to Honesdale 
to what is called a " gravity" road. That is, the coal is raised a certain number 
of feet up an inclined plane, by means of a stationary engine. From the point 
thus gained the road is constructed for some distance with a descending grade 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 233 

sufficient to move the cars along by the force of gravity. Then a new inclined 
plane ; and so on to the terminus on the canal. The Honesdale road is con- 
structed throughout with a double track, one for the loaded cars, and one for 
the empty cars. The ascent of the inclined planes is made in- some cases by 
means of water-power. Four cars of Z}4 tons each are drawn up the inclined 
planes at a time. The average number of trips per day is about one hundred 
and twenty. The utmost capacity of the Honesdale road for transporting 
coal is given at five hundred and fifty thousand tons per annum. The Railroad 
of the Pennsylvania Company, from the neighborhood of Pittston to Hawley, 
(a port on the Delaware and Hudson Canal, eleven miles beyond Honesdale,) 
is also a gravity road, forty-four miles in length, with ten inclined planes on 
the empty car track, and twelve on the loaded track, each plane from seventeen 
hundred to two thousand feet in length. Three of these planes are worked by 
water-power, the others by steam. Most of these planes are supplied with 
three stationary steam-engines of thirty horse power each. There are, in all, 
upon this road, forty-eight steam-engines, of thirty horse power each. The 
road in some places is constructed on high tressel work. In one place it is 
from twenty-eight to thirty-five feet high for more than a mile. This tressel 
work was made in a hurry, is easily put out of order, and requires constant 
attention to keep it wedged in its place. The gravity part of the road is badly 
constructed, the grade in some places is too steep, and the wheels of the cars 
have to be spragged well with care. There is in every part much wear and 
tear. The maximum capacity of this road is four hundred and fifty thousand 
tons per annum. 

The utmost capacity, therefore, of the two lines which supply the Delaware 
and Hudson Canal is 1,000,000 tons, which is just about the capacity of the canal 
itself. The canal has been already, and very recently enlarged, and, without 
still more enlargement, cannot carry more than 1,000,000 tons. This latter 
amount, therefore, must be taken as the measure of its present capacity, beyond 
which it cannot go materially without an enlargement of the canal, and without 
the construction of additional roads, or of additional tracks and motive power on 
the existing roads. Such an enlargement would not only require large additional 
capital to a concern that has already invested (with its auxiliaries) about 
$11,000,000, but a temporary and very embarrassing suspension of business. 
Such an enlargement may possibly take place at some future time, but certainly 
not tm both itself and all the other lines are worked to their full capacity, and 
at remunerating prices. 

The Lehigh Canal has some exit for its coal by the Morris Canal across New 
Jersey. But the difiSculties of transfer from one canal to the other at Easton, as 
well as of the defective lockage along the line of the canal itself, have heretofore 
rendered the Morris Canal almost a nullity, so far as the coal trade is concerned. 
These difficulties have been to some extent removed, and the Morris Canal, it is 
hoped, will hereafter be a sharer in this important business. There are, how- 
ever, no data on which any accurate estimate of its business can be made. Its 
20* 2E 



^34 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

friends suppose that it may be able to carry as much as 400,000 tons. It cannot, 
in any event, be sufficient to alter any of the conclusions to be derived from the 
general scope of our argument. 

The principal, and at present the only measure of the capacity of the Lehigh, 
is the State Canal, 60 miles in length, from Easton to Bristol. The capacity of 
this canal is 900,000 tons. The Lehigh Company, therefore, by all its means, 
cannot possibly do a business exceeding 1,300,000 tons, without an enlargement 
of its own canal, as well as of the State Canal, throughout its entire length, 
which neither the Company nor the State is in a condition at present to under- 
take, without some imperative necessity. 

The present capacity of the Schuylkill Navigation Company is 800,000 tons. 
This may be increased to 1,000,000 tons by putting on additional boats. Any 
increase beyond this requires more water, which can only be obtained by the 
construction of large reservoirs among the mountains, where water maybe stored 
up in the wet season. The business of this Company, by means of these addi- 
tional investments, may be increased, possibly, to 1,500,000 tons. Its condition, 
however, seems to preclude any prospect of such an increase, at least until all 
existing means are put to their fullest development. 

The Reading Railroad with its existing cars, engines and wharves, can tran- 
sport 2,000,000 tons, and by adding cars, engines, and wharves, as the demand may 
increase, without interrupting its business, or increasing its permanent invest- 
ment, may increase its coal tonnage to 4,000,000. Beyond this it may go almost 
indefinitely by means of parallel tracks, every additional track giving an increase 
of between two and three millions. Such an additional track, however, would 
require an addition to the permanent investment, though it would make no in- 
terruption to the business of the company. We will therefore consider 
4,000,000 as their ultimatum under existing circumstances. 

Now, if we put these several facts together, we will find that most of the com- 
panies are already worked nearly to their full capacity. The business of the 
Lehigh Company was 988,296 tons in 1851, leaving a margin for increase of only 
310,704 tons. The business of the Delaware and Hudson Company was 795,095, 
leaving a margin for increase of 204,905. The Schuylkill did in 1851 a business 
of 579,156 tons, leaving a clear margin of 220,844 tons without additional boats, 
and of 520,844 tons with such addition. The business of the Reading road was 
1,605,084 tons, leaving room for an increase of 394,916 tons with their existing 
running power, and 2,394,916 tons with the addition of running power as it is 
needed. 

This gives us the means of forming some legitimate conclusions as to the 
necessary distribution of the trade among the several companies during the next 
two or three years. If we suppose the Delaware, and Hudson, and the Lehigh 
Companies worked at once to their full capacities, which we see no good reason 
to doubt, and if we supposed that the Schuylkill Navigation Company should be 
able at the end of a year from this time, to command the additional capital neces- 
sary to put upon their canal the additional boats needed, so as after that time 



ANTHRACITE COAL FORMATION. 235 

to bo worked to its full capacity, tho outstanding balance of the demand must of 
necessity fall to tho Reading road. This distribution of the business may be 
exhibited to the eye as follows : 

1852. 1853. - 1854. 

^ Lehigh Company (full capacity.) 1,300,000 1,300,000 1,300,000 

Delaware and Ilud. (full capacity.) 1,000,000 1,000,000 1,000.000 

Sehuvlkill Nuv. (full capacity.) 800,000 1,000,000 1,000,000 

ll.ll.R. (necessary to supply demand.) 1,160,678 3,012,813 4,275,375 



Estimated demand. 6,260,678 6,312,813 7,575,375 

If, under these circumstances, all the companies do not make money, they have 
not the business sagacity for which they are generally credited. They are now 
all thoroughly organized .and equipped for a successful prosecution of the busi- 
ness. The experience of the last year seems to have convinced them all that 
their true vocation is to carry coal at remunerating prices, instead of seeking to 
underwork each other. Indeed, with the prospect before them of all having a 
demand for as much as they can possibly do, harmony among them as to 
rates and prices, is as certain as any future event, dependent upon the laws of 
either mind or matter. The operations of the present year have, indeed, already 
commenced upon an amicable basis. Pursuing this line of policy, every addi- 
tion to their business adds, in a rapidly increasing ratio, to their net returns. 
The main expense of the roads, canals, engines, boats, hands, and other perma- 
nent investments, having been already incurred, increase of business brings with 
it small comparative increase of cost. The addition to their income from in- 
creased tonnage is almost entirely profit. The ratio of net profits, to the gross 
income, is necessarily a constantly increasing one, until each line is worked to 
its full capacity. 

Under these circumstances, we repeat, all the companies must necessarily do 
a profitable business. Even those lines already worked to their full capacity, 
will increase their profits, because it will be the interest of the other companies, 
equally with themselves, to raise their freights and prices above those of the 
last year. The Delaware and Hudson Company has already raised the price of 
coal 50 cents a ton, and the Reading Railroad has added 10 cents a ton to its 
charge for freight. The result to the consumer will be, without doubt, a slight 
increase in the price of the article, put to the great companies engaged in mining 
and transporting it; we see not how it can be otherwise than a full realization of 
those rich returns for which they have so long, and at some periods so disastrously 
labored. 

In the above estimates, the Union Canal, extending from Pinegrove to Middle- 
town, has been overlooked. The capacity of this improvement, since its enlarge- 
ment is equal to some 800,000 tons; of which probably 200,000 will be passed 
over the line the present season. The Swatara coal district, it is well known, is 
one of the richest and best in Schuylkill county, and the amount of coal that 
will hereafter seek the line of the Union Canal must increase very rapidly 
hereafter. 



PABT III. 



IB p m i I g . 



Thou comest in beauty on my gaze at last, 

" On Susquehanna's side, fair Wyoming," — 
Image of many a dream, in hours long past; 

When life was in its bud, and blossoming. 
And waters, gushing from the fountain spring 

Of pure enthusiast thought, dimmed my young eyes; 
And by the poet borne, on unseen wing, 

I breathed, in fancy, 'neath thy cloudless skies, 
The summer's air, and heard her echo'd harmonies. 

Two courses, comprisinz the substantials of our little repast, have 
been set before the friendly guest ; the third, a favorite poetic dish, 
•with some " trimmings" of our own scattered around, shall now be 
spread out. Wyoming — sweet vale of Wyoming ! — 'tis of thee that 
we shall sing ! 

There are several stage-routes by which Wilkesbarre may be 
reached — the most eastern one of which commences at Easton, 
in Northampton, and passing through Monroe, enters Luzerne 
county at the Great Swamp, locally called the shades of death. 
This route is interesting for its scenery, and is generally selected 
by the New Yorkers in their travels to and from Wyoming. The 
route is sixty-four miles in length, and passes the villages of E£Fort, 
Nazareth, Jacobsburg, Wind Gap, (in the Kittatinny mountain), 
Taylorsburg, Shafer's, Mount Pocono, Soxville, Stoddartsville, (on the 
Lehigh river) Beaumont, and Bear Creek to Wilkesbarre. The trav- 
eller at Mauch Chunk can either fight his way up the Lehigh, by 
(236) 



WYOMING VALLEY 



237 



stage to Whitehaven, thence by railroad, or he may proceed di- 
rect by stage via Lausanne and Beaver Meadow, to Ilazleton, at 
which place he will intersect the line at Tamaqua. For travellers 
from Philadelphia, Tamaqua is, as before stated, the most direct 
starting-point, while the line of stages is superior to the others, or 
used to be — each coach employing four horses. The distance from this 
place to Wilkesbarre is about forty-five miles, the road crossing the 
mountains of Locust and Mahanoy, in Schuylkill, and those of Nes- 
copec and Wyoming in Luzerne, with their interesting valleys and 
coal districts. At the foot of this latter mountain, (which, further 
north, is called the Moosic mountain — what nonsense !) lies the bor- 
ough of Wilkesbarre, and before it stretches out, in a north-east and 
south-west direction, the beautiful and far-famed valley of Wyoming. 
In the centre of the valley flows the Susquehanna, in one broad, clear, 
and tranquil sheet, and north of it rises the towering mountain range 
of the Nanticoke, the Shawnee, and the Lackawanna. The Susque- 
hanna breaks through the mountain range near Pittston, where, en- 
tering the valley from the north, it receives the Lackawanna river, and 
strikes to the south-west, traversing the valley in a nearly straight 
line, until within a few miles of Columbia county, where it makes a 
graceful bend around Wyoming Mountain ; pitches due south to that 
of the Nescopeck, and then again stretches out in a south-west course, 
and enters that county. 

The county of Luzerne is plentifully supplied with streams. Ex- 
cepting one or two of nearly equal area further west, it probably con- 




238 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



tains more small streams and little lakes than any other county in the 
State. The principal ones are the Susquehanna, the Lackawanna, the 
Lehigh, the Wapwallopen, Nescopeck, and the north fork of the 
Lehigh — all south-east of the Shawnee Mountain. West of this moun- 
tain range are numerous small rivulets, where " trout most do congre- 
gate," as Huntingdon, Shickshinny, Harvey's, Toby's, Bowman's and 
others. Some ten miles porth-west of Wilkesbarre, is Harvey's Lake, 




a beautiful transparent sheet of water, much resorted to by fishing 
parties. There are several other small kkes, near at hand, all of 
which abound in trout, and other game fish, and are surrounded with 
the most splendid scenery which the unerring hand of nature could 
produce. No where in the United States is the beautiful brook trout 
found in greater abundance,— no where is it found in better positions 
for the excitements of fishing, — no where are its freshwater retreats 
found amidst finer scenery, or streams of clearer and purer water. 
Hear what the poet has to say of this delightful sport : 

Now, when the first foul torrent of the brooks, 
Swcird with the vernal nains, is ebb'd away ; 
And, whitening, down their mossy-tinctur'd stream 
Descends the billowy foam : now is the time. 



TROUT PISHING. 239 

While yet the dark brown water aids the guile, 
To tempt the trout The well dissembled fly, 
The rod fine-tapering with elastic spring, 
Snatch'd from the hoary steed the floating line, 
And all thy slender wat'ry stores prepare. 
But let not on thy hook the tortur'd worm 
Convulsive, twist in agonizing folds; 
Which, by rapacious hunger swallow'd deep. 
Gives, as you tear it from the bleeding breast 
Of the weak, helpless, uncomplaining wretch. 
Harsh pain and horror to the tender hand. 

When with his lively ray the potent sun 
Has pierc'd the streams, and rous'd the finny race, 
Then, issuing cheerful, to thy sport repair : 
Chief should the western breezes curling play. 
And light o'er either bear the shadowy clouds. 
High to their fount, this day, amid their hills. 
And woodlands warbling round, trace up the brooks; 
The next, pursue their rocky-channel'd maze, 
Down to the river, in whose ample wave 
Their little Naiads love to sport at large. 

Just in the dubious point, where with the pool 
Is mix'd the trembling stream, or where it boils 
Around the stone, or from the hollow'd bank 
Reverted plays in undulating flow. 
There throw, nice-judging, the delusive fly : 
And as you lead it round in artful curve, 
With eye attentive mark the springing game. 
Strait as above the surface of the flood 
They wanton rise, or urg'd by hunger leap, 
Then fix, with gentle twitch, the barbed hook : 
Some lightly tossing to the grassy bank, 
And to the shelving shore slow-dragging some, 
With various hand proportion'd to their force. 
If yet too young, and easily deceiv'd, 
A worthless prey scarce bends your pliant rod; 
Him, piteous of his youth and the short space 
He has enjoy'd the vital light of heaven, 
Soft disengage, and back into the stream 
The speckled captive throw. But should you luro 
From his dark haunt, beneath the tangled roots 
Of pendant trees, the monarch of the brook. 
Behoves you then to ply your finest art. 
Long time he, following cautious, scans the fly ; 



240 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

And oft attempts to seize it, but as oft 
The dimpled water speaks his jealous fear. 
At last, while haply o'er the shaded sun 
Passes a cloud, he desperate takes the death, 
With sullen plunge. At once he darts along. 
Deep struck, and runs out all the lengthen'd line ; 
Then seeks the farthest ooze, the sheltering weed. 
The cavern'd bank, his old secure abode ; 
And flies aloft, and flounces round the pool, 
Indignant of the guile. With yielding hand, 
That feels him still, yet to his furious course 
Gives way, you, now retiring, following now 
Across the stream, exhaust his idle rage; 
Till floating broad upon his breathless side 
And to his fate abandon'd, to the shore 
You gaily drag your unresisting prize. 

Besides the trout, there are numerous other fish, peculiar to the 
fresh -water varieties, to be found in these mountain streams, as the 
rock fish, sun fish, eel, perch, salmon, pike, and shad. This latter, 
which is the largest fish frequenting the Susquehanna, is now very 
rarely caught so high up, being "headed off" by the dams erected in 
the Susquehanna, at various points below. It may still be found, how- 
ever, thouo-h in nothing like the abundance with which it was caught 
some years ago. Mr. Miner, in his work on Wyoming, speaks of 
cases where many thousand were captured, near Wilkesbarre, in a 
single haul of the seine. The flesh of the shad is probably more deli- 
cate than any existing fish of our streams ; and though it lacks the 
lusciousness and the glutinous fin of the turbot, it is preferred to it 
by many judicious epicures, notwithstanding the drawback occasioned 
by its innumerable and sharply-pointed bones. Shad fishing has 
heretofore been confined exclusively, on this river, to the seine and 
dip-net, but Mr. Herbert, in his recent work on fishing, says that 
much sport may be found in fishing for it, during its upward run in 
the spring, with a powerful trout-line, and a rich gaudy fly. The 
higher up the river they ascend the more readily they will take the 
fly, while, at the same time, the flavor of their flesh is greatly in- 
creased. 

The mountainous character of this country, and the frequent disar- 
rangements of the stratification, have occasioned numerous romantic 



LUZERNE COUNTY. 241 

■water-f\ills, one of tlio most interesting of whicli is that of Falling 
Spring, at the head of the valley, near Pittston. 

The first settlers of, this county were originally from Connecticut, 
. with a few Germans and Scotch-Irish from Pennsylvania. The Ger- 
mans from the lower counties and from Europe have more recently 
filled up the southern part of the county, and a great number of Irish 
and Welsh miners are settled around the principal coal mines. The 
people of the Wyoming valley — says Mr. Day — and along the Sus- 
quehanna above, still retain the manners, the steady habits, the enter- 
prise and intelligence, and even the pronunciation of their New Eng- 
land fathers ; and the external aspect of things — the villages with tall 
spires and shaded streets ; the neat white houses with green blinds, 
and broad front-yards fragrant with flowers and shrubbery ; and in 
the country, the ancient red-painted or wood-colored frame-houses — 
all mark the origin and peculiar character of the people. Prof Silli- 
man, on his visiting the valley some years ago, made the following 
remarks : 

" The severe and long-continued struggle for the possession of this 
country, which wag sustained by the original Connecticut settlers 
from fifty to eighty years since, and the repeated attempts which were 
made to disposses them by arms, sufiiciently evince the high estima- 
tion in which it was held by all the parties. The prize for which the 
settlers contended was worthy of all the heroism, fortitude, and long- 
suffering perseverance, which, during so many years, they displayed 
— an exhibition of moral courage rarely equalled and never surpassed. 
Believing themselves, both in a political and personal view, to be the 
rightful proprietors of the country, they defended it to the death ; 
and no one who now surveys this charming valley can wonder that 
they would not quietly relinquish their claim. 

" The first glance of a stranger entering at either end, or crossing 
the mountain ridges which divide it (like the happy valley of Abys- 
sinia,) from the rest of the world, fills him with the peculiar pleasure 
produced by a fine landscape, combining richness, beauty, variety, 
and grandeur. From Prospect Hill, on the rocky summit of the east- 
ern barrier, and from Ross' Hill, on the west, the valley of AVyo- 
ming is seen in one view, as a charming whole, and its lofty and 
well-defined boundaries exclude more distant objects from mingling 
in the prospect. Few landscapes that I have seen can vie with 
the valley of Wyoming. Excepting some rocky precipices and 
21 2F 



242 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

cliffs, the mountains are wooded from the summit to their base ; 
natviral sections furnish avenues for roads, and the rapid Sus- 
quehanna rolls its powerful current through a mountain gap, on 
the northwest, and immediately receives the Lackawanna, which 
flows down the narrower valley of the same name. A similar pass 
between the mountains, on the south, gives the Susquehanna an 
exit, and at both places a slight obliquity in the position of the 
observer presents to the eye a seeming lake in the windings of the 
river, and a barrier of mountains, apparently impassable. From 
the foot of the steep mountain ridges, particularly on the eastern side, 
the valley slopes away, with broad sweeping undulations in the sur- 
face, forming numerous swelling hills of arable and grazing land ; 
and as we recede from the hills, the fine flats and meadows covered 
with the richest grass and wheat, complete the picture by features 
of the gentlest and most luxuriant beauty." 

The valley itself, — says Hon. Charles Miner, — is diversified by hill 
and dale, upland and intervale. Its character of extreme richness is 
derived from the extensive flats, or river bottoms, which, in some 
places, extend from one to two miles back from the stream, unrivalled 
in expansive beauty ; unsurpassed in luxuriant fertility. Though 
now generally cleared and cultivated, to protect the soil from floods a 
fringe of trees is left along each bank of the river ; the sycamore, the 
elm, and more especially the black walnut, — ^while here and there ^ 
scattered through the fields, a huge shell-bark yields its summer shade 
to the weary laborer, and its autumn fruit to the black and gray 
squirrel, or the rival plough-boy. Pure streams of water come leaping 
from the mountains, imparting health and pleasure in their course ; 
all of them abounding with the delicious trout. Along those brooks, 
and in the swales, scattered through the uplands, grow the wild plum 
and the butter-nut, while, wherever the hand of the white man has 
spared it, the native grape may be gathered in unlimited profusion. 
I have seen the grape-vine bending beneath its purple clusters, one 
branch climbing a butter-nut, loaded with fruit ; another branch restr 
ing on a wild plum, red with its delicious burden — the while growing 
in their shade, the hazel-nut was ripening its rounded kernel ! 

Such were the common scenes when the white man first came to 
Wyoming, which seems to have been formed a perfect Indian paradise. 
Game of every sort was abundant. The quail whistled in the 
meadow, the pheasant rustled in its leafy covert; the wild-duck 



Cl 



a 
as 



o 



n 




THE VALE OF WYOMING. 



245 



reared her brood, and bent the reed in every inlet ; the red deer fed 
upon the hills, while, in the deep forests, within a few hours walk, 
roamed the stately elk. The river yielded, at all seasons, a supply of 
fish — the yellow porch, the pike, the catfish, the bass, the roach, and, 
in the spring, myriads of shad. 

The name of Wyoming was long supposed to mean, being inter- 
preted, "afield of Blood;" but Mr. Ileckewelder, perfectly versed in 
Indian language, says it is a corruption of Maughwauwama, by which 
it was designated by the Delaware Indians, being a compound of 
Mamfiacau, meaning large, and imme, signifying plains, so that it 
may be translated the large plains." 

The entire region of country surrounding Wyoming was long 
claimed by the Indians of the Six Nations, while the Shawnees, Dela- 
wares, Nanticokes, and other tribes, were the occcasional possessors 
of the valley, which seems, at all times, to have been a favorite abode 
with these children of the forest. The women cultivated corn upon 
the plains, the men travelled the surrounding mountains, covered 
with lofty forests, in pursuit of game, and the river supplied an 
abundance of fish. The Delawares were settled on the eastern side 
of the valley, nearly opposite to the village of the Shawnees, called 
Maugh-waii-wauma, or Wyoming. The Nanticokes occupied the lower 




end of the valley, near the falls bearing their name. This is a rapid 
on the Susquehanna, almost precipitous at one place, where the river 
forces its passage through a narrow gorge of the mountains, and es- 
21* 



24G OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

capes through the beautiful valley where it had been lingering for 
upwards of twenty miles, into a region wild with rock and glen. 
The tribes thus situated, and each but tenants of the Six Nations, 
maintained a peaceable intercourse for a season, and enjoyed their 
wild scenes unmolested. 

It was during this period that the soil of Wyoming was first trod- 
den by the feet of a missionary of the Christian religion. - The Mora- 
vians, or "United Brethren," had commenced their missions in the 
new world several years before — in Georgia as early as 1734. Their 
benevolent labors were extended to Pennsylvania and New York six 
years afterward. In 1742, says Col. Stone, their great founder and 
apostle. Count Zinzendorf, visited America, to look after their infant 
missions. He arrived at Bethlehem, near the forks of the Delaware, 
in the following year. Afi'ecting representations of the deplorable 
moral condition of the Indians had reached the Count before he left 
Germany, and his attention was early directed to their situation, and 
their wants, while visiting the missionary stations along the Dela- 
ware. He made several journeys among the Indians deeper in the 
interior, and succeeded, not without difficulty, in establishing a friendly 
intercourse with various tribes. In one of these journeys he plunged 
through the wilderness into the valley of Wyoming, for the pur- 
pose of establishing a missionary post in the town of the Shawnees. 
It was here, during the autumn of that year, that one of those beau- 
tiful and touching incidents occurred which add a charm to the 
annals of the missionary enterprise. The Count had expected to be 
accompanied by an interpreter, celebrated in all the Indian negotia- 
tions for many years of that age, named Conrad Weiser, (of whom 
we have already spoken, in connection with Reading, Part I.) Avhose 
popularity was equally great among the Indians of all nations by 
whom he was known. But Weiser was unable to go. Inflexible in 
his purpose, however, the Count determined to encounter the hazards 
of the journejs with no other companions than a missionary, named 
Mack, and his wife. On their arrival in the valley, they pitched their 
tents on the bank of the river, a short distance below the village of 
the Shawnees — at that period the most distrustful and savage of the 
Pennsylvania Indians. A council was called to hoar their errand of 
mercy, but the Indians were not exactly satisfied as to the real object 
of such an unexpected visit. They knew the rapacity of the white 
people for their lands ; and they thought it far more probable that 



COUNT ZINZENDORF. 247 

the strangers were bent upon surveying the quality of these, than 
that they were encountering so many hardships and dangers, without 
fee or reward, merely for the future well-being of their souls. Brood- 
ing darkly upon the subject, their suspicions increased, until they 
resolved upon the assassination of the Count ; for which purpose exe- 
cutioners were detailed, who were instructed to carry their purpose 
into effect with all possible secrecy, lest the transaction, coming to 
the ears of the English, should involve them in a yet graver difficulty. 
The Count was alone in his tent, reclining upon a bundle of dry 
weeds, designed for his bed, and engaged in writing, or in devout 
meditation, when the assassins crept stealthily to the tent upon their 
murderous errand. A blanket curtain, suspended upon pins, formed 
the door of his tent, and by gently raising a corner of the curtain the 
Indians, undiscovered, had a full view of the venerable patriarch, 
unconscious of lurking danger, and with the calmness of a saint upon 
his benignant features. They were awe-stricken by his appearance. 
But this was not all. It was a cool night in September, and the 
Count had kindled a small fir« for his comfort. Warmed by the flame, 
a large rattlesnake had crept from its covert, and approaching the fire 
for its greater enjoyment, glided harmlessly over one of the legs of the 
holy man, whose thoughts, at the moment, were not occupied upon 
the grovelling things of earth. He perceived not the serpent, but the 
Indians, with breathless astonishment, had observed the whole move- 
ment of the poisonous reptile ; and as they gazed upon the aspect and 
attitude of the Count, and saw the serpent offering him no harm, they 
changed their minds as suddenly as the barbarians of Malta did 
theirs in regard to the shipwrecked prisoner who shook the viper from 
his hand without feeling even a smart from its venomous fang. Their 
enmity was immediately changed into reverence ; and in the belief 
that their intended victim enjoyed the special protection of the Great 
Spirit, they desisted from their bloody purpose and retired.* Thence- 
forward the Count was regarded by the Indians with the most pro- 
found veneration. The arrival of Conrad Weiser, soon afterward, 

* This interesting incident was not published in the Count's memoirs, lest, as 
he states, the world should think that the conversions that followed among the 
Indians were attributable to their superstitions. Mr. Chapman, in his history 
of Wyoming, has preserved the story, having, as he says, received it from one 
who was a companion of the Count, and who accompanied him (the author) to 
Wyoming. 



248 



OFF- II AND SKETCHES. 



afforded every facility for free communication with the sons of the 
forest, and the Count remained among them a considerable time. 
Some time afterwards several of the Moravian brethren visited the 
valley, and formed an agreeable acquaintance with the Indians, 
especially with the Nanticoke tribe, one of whom, eighty-seven years 
old, was a remarkably intelligent man. The Missionaries frequently 
preached to them through their interpreter, and the result was the 




MISSIONARIES PREACHING TO THE INDIANS. 



establishment of a regular mission post there, which was successfully 
maintained for several years, and until broken up by troubles as ex- 
traordinary in their origin as they were fatal to the Indians involved 
in them. 

The contention which so long subsisted between the citizens of 
Connecticut and Pennsylvania, says Mr. Trego, in his Geography of 
Pennsylvania, and which caused so much blood to be spilled at "Wyo- 
ming, originated in an interference of the territorial claims of the 
respective parties. Strange as it may appear at the present day, this 
region was claimed by Connecticut as being within the limits of its 
charter as granted by the English government, and in 1753 a company 
was formed in that colony for the purpose of making settlements at 
"Wyoming. In 1762, about two hundred persons from Connecticut 
arrived, and established themselves on the east side of the river, 
about the mouth of Mill Creek, a little above the place where "Wilkes- 
barre now stands. They lived in friendship with the Indians, and 




a 

•J 
f- 

E- 






o 

t 

O 
E- 



WYOMING. 251 

soon extended their settlements to the west side of the rivier. This 
state of peace was, however, of short duration, for the settlement was 
suddenly attacked by the savages ; about twenty persons were killed, 
others wounded, and the rest fled to the mountains, making their 
way, almost destitute of provisions, through a wilderness of sixty 
miles, to the settlements at Easton, on the Delaware. 

The proprietor of Pennsylvania, having purchased this territory 
from the Indians, granted the lands at Wyoming to certain persons, 
who in 1769 took possession of them, together with the improve- 
ments made by the Connecticut people, who had been driven away 
by the Indians. In the same year forty new emigrants from Con- 
necticut arrived, who, after much contention and difficulty with 
the Pennsylvania settlers, were most of them arrested and taken 
to Easton, but were afterwards liberated. Soon after two hundred 
more came from Connecticut, who built a fort for their defence, and 
prepared to resist the authorities of Pennsylvania. A series of skir- 
mishes, and at length of open warfare between the rival bodies of 
settlers succeeded ; armed forces were sent by the proprietary go- 
vernment of Pennsylvania to dispossess the Connecticut people ; a 
number were killed on both sides, and this civil contention lasted 
until the breaking out of the revolutionary war, which exposed both 
the belligerents to a common foe. 

The valley of Wyoming was thus allowed a season of comparative 
repose. Both Connecticut and Pennsylvania had more important 
demands upon their attention. The census of the valley, at this 
time, is estimated by Mr. Miner, at about twenty-five hundred in- 
habitants. At the opening of the revolution, says he, the pulsations 
of patriotic hearts throbbed with unfaltering energy throughout 
Wyoming. The fires of liberty glowed with an ardor intense and 
fervent. The people erected, at their own expense, suitable defences 
against the encroachments of the enemy, and several military com- 
panies were organized, which joined the army of Washington, and 
participated in the bloody conflicts at Brandy wine, Germantown, ;uid 
other places. Wyoming was an exposed frontier bordering on the 
country of the Six Nations — a people numerous, fierce, and accus- 
tomed to war. From Tioga Point, says Mr. Day, where they would 
rendez.vous, in twenty-four hours they could descend the Susquehanna 
in boats to Wyoming. Nearly all the able-bodied men of Wyoming, 
fit to wear arms, had been called away into the continental army. 



252 OFF-HANDSKETCHES. 

It was to be expected, that the savages, and their British employers, 
should breathe vengeance against a settlement that had shown such 
spirit in the cause of liberty. They were also, beyond doubt, stim- 
ulated by the absconding tories, who were burning with a much 
stronger desire to avenge what they conceived to be their own wrongs, 
than with ardor to serve their king. The defenceless situation of the 
settlement could not be concealed from the enemy, and would natu- 
rally invite aggression, in the hope of weakening Washington's army 
by the diversion of the Wyoming troops for the defence of their own 
frontier. All these circumstances together marked Wyoming as a 
devoted victim. 

The following sketch of the memorable battle of 1778 is condensed 
frona the plea of the Wyoming delegation, drawn up by the Hon. 
Charles Miner, and intended to be delivered before the legislature of 
Connecticut — with some additional facts from " the Hazleton Trav- 
ellers," and other sources. 

Late in June, 1778, there descended the Susquehanna, Col. John 
Butler, with his own tory rangers, a detachment of Sir John John- 
son's Royal Greens, and a large body of Indians, chiefly Senecas. 
The British and tories numbered about four hundred — the Indians 
about seven hundred. Jenkin's fort was at the head of the valley, 
just below the gorge. This fort capitulated on the 2d July to a de- 
tachment under Capt. Caldwell. Wintermoot's fort had been built 
near Jenkin's, by a Low Dutch family of that name, with a view, as 
afterwards appeared, to aid the incursions of the tories. As sus- 
pected, Wintermoot's fort at once threw open its gates to the enemy. 
Here the British and Indian force was assembled at dinner just be- 
fore the battle. To defend the settlement against this force was a 
half-raised company of Capt. Deathic [Doeterick] Hewitt, consisting 
of forty or fifty men, and the militia, the remains merely, out of 
which the three companies above mentioned had been enlisted for the 
continental army. There were several forts at Wyoming — not regu- 
lar fortifications, with walls, and embrazures, and great guns — but 
stockades, built by setting logs on end in ditches, close together, sur- 
rounding a space for the retreat of the women and children, with no 
other means of defence than the small-arms of the men, firing through 
loop-holes. In all Wyoming valley there was but one cannon, a four- 
pounder, without ball, kept at the Wilkesbarre fort as an alarm gun. 



BATTLE WITH THE SETTLERS. 253 

Against such a force as the enemy mustered, not one of these forts 
could have held out an hour, or kept the foe from reducing them to 
ashes. Some of the aged men out of the train-bands Jormed them- 
selves into companies to garrison the forts, and yield to the helpless 
such protection as they could. Except at Pittston— which, from its 
position, was imminently exposed — no company of the Wyoming 
regiment was retained for partial defence. All the rest assembled at 
Forty Fort, on the Kingston side, prepared in the best manner they 
could to meet the enemy. They numbered about four hundred men 
and boys, including many not in the train-band. Old, gray-headed 
men, and grandfathers, turned out to the muster. 

Col. Zebulon Butler happened to be at "Wyoming at the time, and 
though he had no proper command, by invitation of the people he 
placed himself at their head, and led them to battle. There never 
was more courage displayed in the various scenes of war. History 
does not portray an instance of more gallant devotion. There was 
no other alternative but to fight and conquer, or die ; for retreat with 
their families was impossible. Like brave men, they took counsel of 
their courage. On the 3d of July they marched out to meet the 
enemy. Col. Zebulon Butler commanded the right wing, aided by 
Maj. Garret. Col. Dennison commanded the left, assisted by Lieut. 
Col. George Dorrance. The field of fight was a plain, partly cleared 
and partly covered with scrub-oak and yellow-pine. The right of the 
Wyoming men rested on a steep bank, which descends to the low river- 
flats ; the left extended to a marsh, thickly covered with timber and 
brush. Opposed to Col. Zebulon Butler, of Wyoming, was Col. John 
Butler, with his tory rangers, in their green uniform. The enemy's 
right wing, opposed to Col. Dennison, was chiefly composed of Indi- 
ans [led on, says Col. Stone, by a celebrated Seneca chief, named 
Gi-en-gwah-toh ; or He-who-goes-in-the-smolce\ .* It was between four 

* Until the publication of the Life of Brant, [by "W. L. Stone,] it had been 
asserted in all history that that celebrated Mohawk chieftain was the Indian 
leader at Wyoming. He himself always denied any participation in this bloody 
expedition, and his assertions were corroborated by the British officers, when 
questioned upon the subject. But these denials, not appearing in history, relieved 
him not from the odium ; and the " monster Brant" has been denounced, the 
world over, as the author of the massacre. In the work referred to above, the 
author took upon himself the vindication of the savage warrior from the accusa- 
tion, and as he thought, at the time, with success. A reviewer of that work, how- 

22 



254 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

and five o'clock in the afternoon -when the engagement began, and for 
some time it was kept up with great spirit. On the right, in open 
field, our men fired and advanced a step, and the enemy was driven 
back. But their numbers, nearly three to one, enabled them to out- 
flank our men, especially on the left, where the ground, a swamp, was 
exactly fitted for savage warfare. Our men fell rapidly before the 
Indian rifles ; the rear as well as the flank was gained, and it became 
impossible to maintain the position. An order to fall back, given by 
Col. Dennison, so as to present a better front to the enemy, could not 
be executed without confusion, and some misunderstood it as a sig- 
nal for retreat. The practiced enemy, not more brave, but, besides 
being more numerous, familiarized to war in fifty battles, sprang for- 
ward raised their horrid yell from one end of the line to the other, 
rushed in with the tomahawk and spear, and our people were defeated. 
They deserved a better fate. One of the men yielding a little ground, 
Col. Dorrance, a few minutes before he fell, with the utmost coolness, 
said, " Stand up to your work, sir." After the enemy was in the 
rear, " See I" said an officer to Capt. Hewett, " the enemy is in force 

behind us ; shall we retreat?" "I'll be d d if I do '."was his 

reply ; and he fell at the head of his men. " We are nearly alone," 
said Westbrook ; " shall we go ?" " I'll have one more shot first," 
replied Cooper. That instant a savage sprang towards him with his 
spear. Cooper stretched him on the earth, and reloaded before he 
left the ground. "When the left was thrown into confusion, our Col. 
Butler threw himself in front, and rode between the two lines, ex- 
posed to the double fire. "Don't leave me, my children," said he; 
" the victory will be ours." But what could four hundred undisci- 

ever, in the Democratic Magazine, who is understood to be the Hon. Caleb Gush- 
ing of Massachusetts, disputed the point, maintaining that the vindication was 
not satisfactory. The author thereupon made a joui-ney into the Seneca country, 
and pushed the investigation among the surviving chiefs and warriors of the 
Senecas engaged in that campaign. The result was a triumphant acquittal of 
Brant from all participation therein. The celebrated chief, Captain Pollard, 
whose Indian name is Kaoundoowand, a fine old warrior, was a young chief in 
that battle. He gave a full account of it, and was clear and positive in his de- 
clarations that Brant and the Mohawks were not engaged in that campaign at all. 
Their leader, he said, was Gi-en-<jicah-ioh, as already mentioned, who lived many 
years afterward, and was succeeded in his chieftaincy by the late Young King. 
That point of history, therefore, may be considered as conclusively settled. 

[Col. Stone's History of Wyoming. 



THE WYOMING MASSACRE. 255 

plined militia effect against eleven hundred veteran troops ? The 
battle vras lost! Then followed the most dreadful massacre — the 
most heart-rending tortures. The brave but overpowered soldiers of 
Wyoming vrere slaughtered without mercy, principally in the flight, 
and after surrendering themselves prisoners of Avar. The plain, the 
river, and the island of Monockonock were the principal scenes of this 
horrible massacre. Sixteen men, placed in a ring around a rock, 
(which is still shown, behind the house of Mr. Gay, near the river,) 
were held by stout Indians, while they were, one by one, slaughtered 
by the knife or tomahawk of a squaw. One individual, a strong man, 
by the name of Hammond, escaped by a desperate effort. In another 
similar ring, nine persons were murdered in the same way. Many 
were shot in the river, and hunted out and slain in their hiding-places, 
(in one instance, by a near, but adverse relative,)* on the now beau- 
tiful island of Monockonock. But sixty of the men who went into 
the battle, survived ; and the forts were filled with widows and or- 
phans, (it is said the war made one hundred and fifty widows and six 
hundred orphans in the valley,) whose tears and cries were suppressed 
after the surrender, for fear of provoking the Indians to kill them : 
for it was an Indian's pastime to brandish the tomahawk over their 
heads. 

A few instances will show how universal was the turn-out, and how 
general was the slaughter. Of the Gore family, one was away with 
the army, five brothers and two brothers-in-law went into the battle. 
At evening five lay dead on the field, one returned with his arm bro- 
ken by a rifle-ball ; the other, and only one, unhurt. From the farm 
of Mr. Weeks, seven went out to battle ; five sons and sons-in-law, and 
two inmates. Not one escaped — the whole seven perished. Ander- 

*■ During the bloody fight of the 3d, some of the fugitives plunged into the 
river and escaped to the opposite shore. A few landed upon Monockonock 
island, having lost their arms in the flight, and were pursued thither. One of 
them was discovered by his own brother, who had espoused the side of the crown. 
The unarmed whig fell upon his knees before bis brother, and offered to serve 
hira as a slave forever, if he would but spare his life. But the fiend in human 

form was inexorable; he muttered, " You are a d d rebel.'" and shot him 

dead. This tale is too horrible for belief; but a survivor of the battle, a Mr. 
Baldwin, confirmed its truth to the writer with his own lips. He knew the 
brothers well, and in August, 1839, declared the fact to be so. The name of 
the brothers was Pensil. — Stone's Ilistori/ of Wt/omiji;j. 



256 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

son Dana went into battle with Stephen Whiting, his son-in-law, a 
few months before married to his daughter. The dreadful necessity of 
the hour allowed no exemption like that of the Jewish law, by which 
the young bridegroom might remain at home for one year, to clieer up 
Ms bride. The field of death was the resting-place of both. Ander- 
son Dana, Jr., still living — then a boy of nine or ten years old — was 
left the only protector of the family. They fled, and begged their way 
to Connecticut. 

Of the Inman family, there were five present in the battle. Two 
fell in the battle, another died of the fatigues and exposure of the 
day ; another was killed the same year by Indians. 

About two-thirds of those who went out fell. Naked, panting, and 
bloody, a few who had escaped came rushing into Wilkesbarre fort, 
where, trembling with anxiety, the women and children were gathered, 
waiting the dread issue. Mr. Hollenback, who had swum the river, 
amid the balls of the enemy, was the first to bring them the appalling 
news — "All is lost — lost!" They fled to the mountains, and down the 
river. Their sufferings were extreme. Many widows and orphans 
begged their bread, on their weary way home to their friends in Con- 
necticut. In one party of near a hundred, there was but a single 
man. As it was understood that no quarters would be given to the 
soldiers of the line. Col. Z. Butler, with the few other soldiers who 
had escaped, retired the same evening, with the families, from Wilkes- 
barre fort. 

But those left at Forty Fort ? During the battle, (said the venera- 
ble Mrs. Myers, who, then a child, was there,) they could step on the 
river bank, and hear the firing distinctly. For a while it was kept up 
with spirit, and hope prevailed ; but by and by it became broken and 
irregular, approaching nearer and nearer. " Our people are defeated 
— they are retreating!" It was a dreadful moment! just at evening 
a few of the fugitives rushed in, and fell do^\^l exhausted — some 
wounded and bloody. Through the night, every hour one or more 
came into the fort. Col. Dennison also came in, and rallying enough 
of the wreck of the little Spartan band to make a mere show of de- 
fending the fort, he succeeded the next day in entering into a capitu- 
lation for the settlement, with Col. John Butler, of the British forces, 
fair and honorable for the circumstances ; by which doubtless many 
lives were saved. The capitulation, drawn up in the handwriting of 
Rev. Jacob Johnson, the first clergyman of the settlement, stipulated. 



AV Y 1^1 1 N O ABANDONED. 257 

"that the settlement lay clown their arms, and their garrison be de- 
molished. That the inhabitants occupy their farms peaceably, and the 
lives of the inhabitants be preserved entire and unhvirt. That the 
'continental stores are to bo given up. That Col. Butler~will use his 
utmost influence that the private property of the inhabitants shall be 
preserved entire to them. That the prisoners in Forty Fort be de- 
livered up. That the property taken from the people called Tories be 
made good ; and that they remain in peaceable possession of their 
farms, and unmolested in a free trade through the settlement. That 
the inhabitants -which Cbl. Dennison capitulates for, together with 
himself, do not take up arms during the contest." 

The enemy marched in six abreast ; the British and tories at the 
northern gate, the Indians at the southern ; their banners flying and 
music playing. Col. Dorrance, then a lad in the fort, remembered the 
look and conduct of the Indian leader — all eye — glancing quickly to 
the right, then to the left, with all an Indian's jealousy and caution, 
lest some treachery or ambush should lurk in the fort. Alas ! the 
brave and powerful had fallen ! No strength remained to resist, no 
power to defend ! 

The terms of the capitulation, however, were disregarded by the 
Indians, and it was soon felt that they afforded no security whatever 
The remaining widows and orphans, therefore, a desolate band, with 
scarcely provisions for a day, took up their sad pilgrimage over the 
dreary wilderness of the Pokono mountains, and the dismal " Shades 
of Death" — (a term bestowed on the solitary wilderness bordering the 
vallej', which is still applied.) Most of the fugitives made their way 
to Stroudsburg, in Monroe county, where there was a small garrison. 
For two or three days, while pursuing their melancholy journey, they 
lived upon whortleberries, which a kind Providence seems to have 
furnished along the way in extraordinary abundance — the manna of 
that solitary wilderness. Mr. Miner in one of his papers, entitled 
the Ilazleton Travellers, (originally published in the newspapers of 
Wilkcsbarre,) says : 

What a picture for the pencil ! Every pathway through the wil- 
derness thronged with women and children, old men and boys. The 
able men of middle life and activity were either aAvay in the general 
service, or had fallen. There were few who were not in the engage- 
ment ; so that in one drove of fugitives, consisting of one hundred 
persons, there was only one man with them Let the painter stand 
22 * 2 11 



258 PF-n AND SKETCHES. 

on some eminence commanding a view at once of the valley and the 
mountain. Let him paint the throng climbing the heights, hurrying 
on, filled with terror, despair, and sorrow. Take a single group : the 
affrighted mother, whose husband has fallen ; an infant on her bosom ; 
a child by the hand; an aged parent, slowly climbing the rugged way, 
behind her ; hunger presses thorn sorely ; in the rustling of every 
leaf they hear the approaching savage ; the " Shades of Death" be- 
fore them ; the valley, all in flames, behind them ; their cottages, their 
barns, their harvests, all swept in this flood of ruin ; their star of 
hope quenched in this blood-shower of savage vengeance ! 

The AVeekses, who fell in the battle, have been mentioned. Not 
one escaped ; the whole seven fell, and the old man was left like the 
oak struck with lightning — withered, bare, blasted — all its boughs 
torn away. 

" Man cannot tell 
With what an agony of tenderness 
He turned him to the battle-field, where lay 
His hopes — ^his children — fondly, dearly loved." 

The engagement was on Friday. On Sunday morning twenty Indi. 
ans came to his house and ordered breakfast. They told Mr. Weeks 
he must go — he could not stay — he must clear out. " All my sons have 
fallen," said the old man, " and here I am, left with fourteen grand- 
children, all young and helpless." After breakfast one of the Indian 
leaders stepped up to Mr. Weeks, took the hat from his head, and put 
it on ; he then wheeled into the middle of the street a large rocking- 
chair with a cushion in it, sat himself down, and rocked himself. 
The tigers, gorged with food, blood, and plunder, for the moment 
paused, and rocked themselves into something like good nature. In 
sending the family into exile, they allowed them a pair of oxen and a 
wagon, to carry the children, a bed, and some food. They went up 
the Lackawanna to Orange county, New York. 

Mrs. Jenkins, in her very interesting narrative, says that in those 
times of peril and suffering the women performed their part. While 
the men were out on duty, the women gathered, husked and garnered 
the corn. I speak now of other years, for little was saved in the mel- 
ancholy and bloody 78. " We had not only to do this, but at times 
to make our own powder !" " Your own powder, Mrs. Jenkins I" I 
exclaimed. "Was it so? Had your people not only to find troops 



INCIDENTS OF THE BATTLE. 259 

for the continental army, to build their own forts, to raise men for 
their own defence, to clothe them, to arm them, to feed them ; but 
were they obliged to make their own powder ? But Jiow did you 
make it?" " 0, we took up the floors, and dug out the earth — put it 
up and drained water through it, as we leech ashes — mixed weak ley, 
boiled them together, let the liquid stand, and saltpetre would rise in 
crystallizations on the top ; then we mixed sulphur and charcoal. 
Mr. Ilollenback went down the river and brought up a pounder." 

When Forty Fort capitulated, (Mrs. Hewitt was there at the time,) 
Col. John Butler, as he entered the gate, saw Sergeant Boyd, a young 
man about twenty-five. lie was an Englishman, had deserted from 
the enemy, was an excellent disciplinarian, and had been serviceable 
in training our men. " Boyd," said Butler, recognizing him, " go to 
that tree," pointing to a pine not far outside the fort. " I hope your 
honor will consider me a prisoner of war." "Go to that tree!" repeated 
Butler sternly. Boyd went, and was shot down. 

In March, 1779, the spring after the battle, a large body of In- 
dians came down on the Wyoming settlements. The people were few, 
weak, and ill prepared for defence, although a body of troops was 
stationed in the valley for that purpose. The savages were estimated 
at about four hundred men. They scattered themselves abroad over 
the settlement, murdering, burning, taking prisoners, robbing houses, 
and driving away cattle. After doing much injury, they concentrated 
their forces, and made an attack on the fort in Wilkesbarre ; but the 
discharge of a field-piece deterred them, and they raised the siege. 
The house of Thaddeus Williams was also attacked by a party. The 
old man was sick in bed, and Sergeant Williams, his son, with a boy 
of thirteen, withstood the siege, killed a part of the assailants, and 
entirely drove off the others. — [Hazleiou Travellers. 

Soon after the battle, says Mr. Day, Capt. Spalding, with a com- 
pany from Stroudsburg, took possession of the desolate valley, and 
rebuilt the fort at Wilkesbarre. Col. Hartley, from Muncy fort, on 
the West Branch, also went up the North Branch with a party, 
burned the enemy's villages, at Wyalusing, Sheskequin, and Tioga, 
and cut off a party of the enemy who were taking a boat-load of 
plunder from Wyoming. Most of the settlers had fled after the battle 
and massacre, but here and there a family had remained, or had 
returned soon after the flight. Skulking parties of Indians continued 
to prowl about the valley, killing, plundering, and scalping, as op- 



260 



OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 



portunity offered. It was at this time that Frances Slocum was cap- 
tured. The story of hor life fully illustrates the remark, that " truth 
is strange — stranger than fiction." The following, originally pub- 
lished in the North American, of Philadelphia, narrates the circum- 
stances of this singular affair : 

At a little distance from the present court-house at Wilkes- 
barre, lived the family of Mr. Jonathan Slocum. The men were 
one day away in the fields, and in an instant the house was sur- 
rounded by Indians. There were in it a mother, a daughter about 
nine years of age, a son aged thirteen, another daughter aged five, 
and a little boy aged two and a half. A young man, and a boy by 
the name of Kingsley, were present grinding a knife. The first 




INDIANS CAPTURING THE CHILD OF MRS. SLOCUM. 

thing the Indians did was to shoot down the young man and scalp 
him with the knife which he had in his hand. The nine year old 
sister took the little boy two years and a half old, and ran out of the 
back door to get to the fort. The Indians chased her just enough to 
Bee her fright, and to have a hearty laugh, as she ran and clung to 



CAPTURE OF MISS SLOCUM. 261 

and lifted her chubby little brother. They then took the Kingsley 
boy and young Slocum, aged thirteen, and little Frances, aged five, 
and prepared to depart. But finding young Slocum lame, at the 
earnest entreaties of the mother, they set him down and left him. 
Their captives were then young Kingsley and the little girl. The 
mother's heart swelled unutterably, and for years she could not de- 
scribe the scene without tears. She saw an Indian throw her child 
over his shoulder, and as her hair fell over her face, with one hand 
she brushed it aside, while the tears fell from her distended eyes, and 
stretching out her other hand towards her mother, she called for her 
aid. The Indian turned into the bushes, and this was the last seen 
of little Prances. This image, probably, was carried by the mother 
to her grave. About a month after this they came again, and with 
the most awful cruelties murdered the aged grandfather, and shot a 
ball in the leg of the lame boy. This he carried with him in his leg, 
nearly six years, to the grave. The last child was born a few months 
after these tragedies ! What were the conversations, the conjectures, 
the hopes and the fears respecting the fate of little Frances, I will 
not attempt to describe. 

As the boys grew up and became men, they were very anxious to 
know the fate of their little fair-haired sister. They wrote letters, 
they sent inquiries, they made journeys through all the "West and into 
the Canadas. Four of these journeys were made in vain. A silence, 
deep as that of the forest through which they wandered, hung over 
her fate during sixty years. 

My reader will now pass over fifty-eight years, and suppose him- 
self far in the wilderness of Indiana, on the bank of the Mississinewa, 
about fifty miles southwest of Fort Wayne. A very respectable agent 
of the United States, Hon. George W. Ewing, of Peru, la., is travel- 
ling there, and weary and belated, with a tired horse, he stops in an 
Indian wigwani for the night. He can speak the Indian language. 
The family are rich for Indians, and have horses and skins in abun- 
dance. In the course of the evening he notices that the hair of the 
woman is light, and her skin under her dress is also white. This led 
to a conversation. She told him she was a white child, but had been 
carried away when a very small girl. She could only remember that 
her name was Slocum, that she lived in a little house on the banks 
of the Susquehanna, and how many there were in her father's family, 
and the order of their ages ! But the name of the town she could 



262 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

not remember. On reaching his home, the agent mentioned this 
otory to his mother. She urged and pressed him to write and print 
the account. Accordingly he wrote it, and sent it to Lancaster in 
this State, requesting that it might be published. By some, to me, 
unaccountable blunder, it lay in the office tioo years before it was 
published. In a few days it fell into the hands of Mr. Slocum, of 
Wilkesbarre, who was the little two year and a half old boy when 
Frances was taken. In a few days he was off to seek his sister, 
taking with him his oldest sister, (the one who aided him to escape,) 
and writing to a brother who now lives in Ohio, and who I believe 
was born after the captivity, to meet him and go with him. 

The two brothers and sister are now (1838) on their way to seek 
little Frances, just sixty years after her captivity. They reach the 
Indian country, the home of the Miami Indians. Nine miles from 
the nearest white they find the little wigwam, " I shall know my 
sister," said the civilized sister, " because she lost the nail of her first 
fino-er. You, brother, hammered it off in the blacksmith-shop, when 
she was four years old." They go into the cabin, and find an In- 
dian woman having the appearance of seventy-five. She is painted 
and jewelled off, and dressed like the Indians in all respects. No- 
thing but her hair and covered skin would indicate her origin. They 
get an interpreter, and begin to converse. She t-ells them where she 
was born, her name, &c., with the order of her fiither's family. 
" How came your nail gone ?" said the oldest sister. " My older 
brother pounded it off when I was a little child in the shop !" In a 
word, they were satisfied that this was Frances, their long-lost sister ! 
They asked her what her Christian name was. She could not re- 
member. Was it Frances? She smiled, and said '■'yes." It was 
the first time she had heard it pronounced for sixty years ! Here, 
then, they were met — two brothers and two sisters ! They were all 
satisfied they were brothers and sisters. But what a contrast ! The 
brothers were walking the cabin, unable to speak ; the oldest sister 
was weeping, but the poor Indian sister sat motionless and passion- 
less, as indifferent as a spectator. There was no throbbing, no fine 
chords in her bosom to be touched. 

When Mr. Slocum was giving me this history, I said to him, " But 
could she not speak English?" "Not a word!" "Did she know 
her age ?" " No — had no idea of it !" " But was she entirely igno- 
rant?" "Sir, she did'nt know when Sunday comes!" This was, 



THE PURITAN TURNED INDIAN. 263 

indeed, the consummation of ignorance in a descendant of the 
Puritans ! 

But what a picture for a painter would the inside of that cabin have 
' afforded ! Here were the children of civilization — respectable, tempe- 
rate, intelligent, and wealthy, able to overcome mountains to recover 
their sister. There was the child of the forest, not able to tell the 
day of the week, whose views and feelings were all confined to that 
cabin ! Iler whole history might be told in a word. She lived with 
the Delawares, who carried her off till grown up, and then married 
one of their number. He either died or ran away, and then she mar- 
ried a Miami Indian, a chief, as I believe. She has two daughters, 
both of whom are married, and who live in all the glory of an Indian 
cAbin, deer skin clothes, and cow skin head-dresses ! No one of the 
family can speak a word of English. They have horses in abundance, 
and when the Indian sister wanted to accompany her new relatives, 
she whipped out, bridled her horse, and then, a la Turk, mounted 
astride, and was off. At night she could throw a blanket around 
her, down upon the floor, and at once be asleep. 

The brothers and sister tried to persuade their lost sister to return 
with them, and, if she desired it, bring her children. They would 
transplant her again tp the banks of the Susquehanna, and of their 
wealth make her home happy. But no. She had always lived v/ith 
the Indians ; they had always been kind to her ; and she had pro- 
mised her late husband, on his death-bed, that she would never leave 
the Indians. And there they left her and hers, wild and darkened 
heathens, though sprung from a pious race. You can hardly imagine 
how much this brother is interested for her. His heart yearns with 
an indescribable tenderness for the poor helpless one, who, sizty-one 
years ago, was torn from the arms of her mother. Mysterious Provi- 
dence ! How wonderful the tie which can thus bind a family to- 
gether ! 

Frances' second husband was known among the tribe as the Deaf 
Man, and the village where she lived was called Deaf-man's village. 
The United States by treaty has granted her a rich reserve of land. 
Her son-in-law, Capt. Brouillette, is a half-breed, of French extraction, 
and one of the noblest looking men of his tribe. The whole family 
are highly respectable among their nation, and live well, having a 
great abundance of the comforts of Indian life. 

In the summer of 1779, Gen. Sullivan passed through 'Wyoming, 



264 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

with his army from Easton, on his memorable expedition against the 
country of the Six Nations. As they passed the fort, amid the firing 
of salutes, with their arms gleaming in the sun, and their hundred and 
twenty boats arranged in regular order on the river, and their two 
thousand pack-horses in single file, they formed a military display 
surpassing any jet seen on the Susquehanna, and well calculated to 
make a deep impression on the minds of the savages. Having ravaged 
the country on the Genesee, and laid waste the Indian towns, General 
Sullivan returned to Wyoming in October, and thence to Easton. 
But the expedition had neither intimidated the savages nor prevented 
their incursions. During the remainder of the year they seemed to 
make it their special delight to scourge the valley — they stole into it 
in small parties, blood and devastation marking their track. 

Early in the spring of 1784, says" Mr. Day, the settlers of Wyoming 
were compelled again to witness the desolation of their homes by a 
new cause. The winter had been unusually severe, and on the break- 
ing up of the ice in the spring, (see engraving, page 265) the Susque- 
hanna rose with great rapidity — the immense masses of loose ice from 
above continued to lodge on that which was still firm at the lower end 
of the valley ; a gorge was formed, and one general inundation over- 
spread the plains of Wyoming. The inhabitants took refuge on the 
surrounding heights, many being rescued from the roofs of their float- 
ing houses. At length a gorge at the upper end of the valley gave 
way, and huge masses of ice were scattered in every direction, which 
remained a great portion of the ensuing summer. The deluge broke 
the gorge below with a noise like that of contending thunderstorms, 
and houses, barns, stacks of hay and grain, cattle, sheep, and swine, 
were swept oif in the rushing torrent. A great scarcity of provisions 
followed the flood, and the sufi"erings of the inhabitants were aggra- 
vated by the plunder and persecution of the Pennamite soldiers, quar- 
tered among them. Gov. Dickinson represented their sufierings to 
the Legislature, with a recommendation for relief, but in vain. This 
was known as the ice flood ; another, less disastrous, which occurred 
ih 1787, 'jvas called t\\Q pumplcin flood, from the fact that it strewed the 
lower valley of the Susquehanna with the pumpkins of the unfortu- 
nate Yankees. 

After the peace with Great Britain, and the danger from the Indi- 
ans having been, in a great measure, removed, the surviving inhab- 
itants returned to their possessions at Wyoming, and being joined by 




23 



21 



SETTLER S DIFFICULTIES ADJUSTED. 



Of!7 



67 



many others, their settlement again flourished, and the village was 
rebuilt. They still refused, says Mr. Trego, to acknowledge the au- 
thority of Pennsylvania, or to be governed by her laws ; and on the 
application of that State to Congress, a board of commissioners was 
appointed to determine the dispute between Pennsylvania and Con- 
necticut concerning the jurisdiction of the territory in question, who, 
after a deliberation of five weeks, unanimously decided that the state 
of Connecticut had no right to the land in controversy. But though 





WYOMING MONUMENT. 



the Connecticut settlers were now willing to acknowledge the juris- 
diction of Pennsylvania, they i-cfused to yield up their fiirms and im- 
provements to the Pennsylvania claimants, and a scene of trouble and 
contention between the different parties ensued, in which resort was 
again had to arms, and a number of persons were killed. The civil 



268 OFF-HAND SKETCHES. 

authorities of Pennsylvania were resisted, and the armed companies 
sent to sustain them were met and repelled by armed bodies of the 
Connecticut settlers. At length, after a long and harrassing conten- 
tion, a compromise was effected ; seventeen townships being granted 
to the Connecticut people, on condition of their relinquishing all 
claims to any other lands within the purchase of the original Con- 
necticut Susquehanna Company, and compensation being made to 
the Pennsylvania claimants. Thus, at last, ended the Wyoming con- 
troversy ; the New England settlers and their descendants became in- 
dustrious and valuable citizens of their adopted state, and having now 
become blended with the general family of the commonwealth, they 
enjoy, in their blooming, beautiful and busy valley, the blessings of 
peace, plenty and prosperity. They are not, however, forgetful of 
the perils and sufferings by which their fathers established themselves 
in that favored spot, and have erected a monument on the battle 
ground of the " Massacre of Wyoming," over the bones of the unfor- 
tunate sufferers in that melancholy tragedy, to commemorate the 
deeds of that eventful day, and to show to future generations the spot 
where their forefathers fought, bled, and died in defence of their 
families and homes. 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES, 



WITH 



PEN AND PENCIL 



FROM 



PHILADELPHIA TO PITTSBURG. 







p 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES 



WITH 



PEN AND PENCIL. 



No more we sing, as they sang of old. 

To the tones of the lute and lyre, 
For lo ! we live in an Iron Age — 

In the age of Steam and Fire ! 
The world is too busy for dreaming, 

And hath grown too wise for "War : 
So, to-day, for the glory of Science, 

Let us sing of the Railway Car ! 
The golden Chariots of ancient Kings 

Would dazzle the wondering eye. 
And the heads of a million slaves might bow 

As the glittering toy rolled by ; 
But this is the Car of the People, 

And before it shall bow all Kings : — 
Be they warned when they hear the shrieking 

Of the Dragon with Iron Wings ! 

AND I have a long journey be- 
fore us — three hundred and 
sixty-throe miles ! But we have 
an iron horse, and his fiery 
breath never fails. The first 
mile of our journey is confined 
to the widest street in Phila- 
delphia, and to a railroad con- 
structed at its expense. Messrs. 
Bingham & Dock, forwarding 
merchants, having leased the 
railroad belonging to the State, 
have erected a handsome depot 
at the corner of Schuylkill 5 th 

and Market sts. Passengers for Columbia, &c., take the cars here. 

We next pass the City Gas Works, situated on the Schuylkill. They 
2 (13) 




■h^' 



14 



loco:motive sketches. 




PHILADELPHIA AND COLUMBIA RAILROAD DEPOT. 



are tl\e most complete in their structure and arrangement of any simi- 
lar establishment in the country. They were commenced in 1835, 
with some doubt as to the practicability of the undertaking, in an 
economical view. The entire area now occupied by the works is 
nearly eight acres, with a front on the Schuylkill of 800 feet. A high 
standard of illuminating quality of gas has been adopted, by the use 
of the proper varieties of coal, and the admixture of resin when they 
fall below the prescribed standard. The fat bituminous coals of our 
own State are principally used, with some samples of pure Cannel 
coal, some of it imported and some obtained from the extensive beds 
of Virginia, as well as those lately discovered in our ovra State, which, 
it seems, has almost every variety of coal known anywhere on the 
globe. The standard quality of the gas is that of twenty candle light 
— in other words, the light of an argand burner, consuming four feet 
of gas per hour, is equal to that of twenty sperm candles, moulded six 
to the pound. This high quality is attained by the use of our own 
coals alone, without the addition of resin or any other bituminous 
matter. After the bitumen is extracted from the coal, the coke is 
sold. The quantity of gas consumed by the city proper (exclusive of 
the adjoining districts, two of which have extensive gas works of their 
own,) for the year 1851, was over one hundred and eighty-two millions 
of cubic feet. The maximum production of the works is about 887,000 
cubic feet every twenty-four hours — or, converted into gallons, some- 



BRIDGE OVER THE SCHUYLKILL, 



15 



thing over seven and a half millions, which is about the same amount 
of water daily consumed during the summer season. 

The extent of main-pipes laid down is equal to ninety-five miles. 
The number of meters is nearly ten thousand, and the^whole number 
of customers about the same — employing a total number of lights of 
over one hundred and fifteen thousand, exclusive of about sixteen 
hundred in the streets, squares, and market-houses of the city. The 
total length of the pipes is about one hundred and twenty-six miles. 
A larger gas establishment is now about being erected a short dis- 
tance from the present works, to which these will be transferred, as 
their productive capacity is too small to supply the increasing demand 
of the city, which exclaims with Goethe, " Light — more light !" The 
new works will be erected at Point Breeze, on the Schuylkill, and will 
embrace an area of some seventy acres. 




_-a^J/>d 



MARKET STREET BRIDGE. 



A few yards from the gas works we pass over the Market Street 
Bridge, one of the finest and most substantial structures in the 
United States. One side of it is appropriated to the exclusive use of 
the Railroad, and has a double track laid down upon it. All the 



16 LOCOMOTIVESKETCHES. 

freight and passenger-cars passing over the railroad, are hauled to and 
from the city by horses, for which purpose a large number are em- 
ployed. The other side of the bridge is used for the passage of horses 
and vehicles — while, for foot-passengers, there is an outside-walk, 
from which a fine view of the Schuylkill is obtained. A short distance 
below we can see the Blockley Almshouse, a large and elegant estab- 
lishment, whose external appearance indicates anything else than the 
abode of poverty and misfortune. But distance, the cheat, " gives 
enchantment to the view," which an inspection of its interior features 
would soon dispel. The building consists of two thousand feet in front, 
three stories high, ornamented in the centre with a stately Tuscan 
portico, supported by six massive columns. It has accommodations 
for a vast number of inmates — there being now within its walls not 
less than two thousand, supported at an average weekly expense of 
104 cents each. The house of employment connected with it yields 
annually about $22,000 worth of manufactures, and the farm nearly 
$15,000 worth of produce. The children's department of this insti- 
tution embraces, at present, three hundred and sixty-five boys and 
over fifteen hundred girls — supported at an annual cost of near $70,000. 
The entire annual expense of the whole establishment may be stated 
at $165,000 — including the insane department, in which there are 
some three hundred and fifty patients. The whole cost of supporting 
the poor of the city and county of Philadelphia, for the year 1851, is 
stated at $228,977. 

Were half the power that fills the world with terror — 
Were half the wealth bestowed on rwn and courts — 

Given to redeem the human mind from error, 
There were no need of poor-housea and forts! 

Upon emerging from the bridge, we enter the borough of West 
Philadelphia, with its mud and dust, and jim-crack cottages. It has 
a large and rapidly increasing population, which is principally com- 
posed of those who conduct business in the city, but do their sleep- 
ing out here — hence the dull, drowsy appearance of the place. 

Hitched to our " loco-snorter," we wind along, for a short distance, 
the western bank of the Schuylkill, catching, here and there, a glance 
at some attractive object in the distance, as the Girard College, Fair- 
mount Water-works, &c. A deep cut finally obstructs the view, and 
the railroad soon after plunges into the midst of the narrow patches, 



WHITEHALL. 17 

the sweet little gardens— (blooming with roses and cabbages) — and 
cozy cottages, so characteristic of the suburban districts of populous 
cities ; and then pursues its way among the broad rich acres of the 
farmer. Rich !— no. Not rich, nor yet sterile ;— but rather like a 
dismissed Irish servant, without a " cha-ractur." The soil is too 
clayey to be fertile, and the swelling fields and grazing cattle deny 
its barrenness. That it is not well drained is certain— that such 
soils greatly need it, we will attach our hand and seal. The truth is, 
there is a superabundance of manure expelled from the city, and it 
naturally finds its way here, where it is needed ; and thus, for ton or 
more miles, we traverse a region of agriculture not supported by the 
usual agricultural economy — but principally devoted to vegetables 
and fruits, for which it receives from the city the means to uphold its 
limited productive capacity. 

Eleven miles from Philadelphia — (three hundred and fifty-two from 
Pittsburg,) is White Hall — (which, by the way, was brown, — but now, 
in fact, is neither white nor brown, for it burned down some years 
ago, and has not yet been rebuilt.) It was a fine hotel, much re- 
sorted to by Philadelphians— ?o7ty, we cannot tell. Pure air ! Fudge! 
Talk of pure air in a clay-flat like this— as well talk of raising po- 
tatoes in a snow-bank. Go to the mountains for pure air — go to 
Pottsville, six or eight hundred feet above the Delaware, or go with 
us to the cloud-capped summits of the Alleghany, and you shall 
taste pure air, fresh from heaven. 

Oh ! let us go and breathe our woe 

In Nature's kindly ear, 
For her soft hand will ever deign 

To wipe the mourner's tear ; 
She mocks not, tho' we tell oiu* grief 

With voice all sad and faint, 
And seems the fondest while we pour 

Our weak and lonely plaint 
Oh ! let us take our sorrows 

To the bosom of the hills, 
And blend our pensive murmurs 

With the gurgle of the rills j 
Oh ! let us turn in weariness 

Towards the grassy way, 
Where skylarks t«ach us how to praise, 

And ringdoves how to pray ; 
2* C 



18 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

And there the melodies of Peace, 

That float around the sod, 
Shall bring back hope and harmony 

With the sweet voice of God. 

The Eagle Hotel, (seventeen miles from Philadelphia) is chiefly re- 
markable as being one of the oldest inns in the State. The turnpike from 
Philadelphia to Lancaster, sixty-two miles in length, was commenced 
in 1792, and finished two years after, at a cost of nearly $500,000. 
It is probably the first improvement of the kind ever commenced in 
the United States. The system of turnpikes rapidly extended a few 
years after the completion of this enterprise, which was subsequently 
extended to Pittsburg, as well as beyond the State line into Ohio, and 
also in the east into New Jersey — thus forming a continuous turn- 
pike road of nearly four hundred miles. A large number of similar 
roads, radiating from the main thoroughfare, soon after followed, so 
that the State was placed in admirable condition for travelling by 
stage, as well as for transporting, in Conestoga teams, the merchandize 




CONESTOGA TKA5I AND STAGE-COACH. 

destined for the interior. The extensive travel thus created and con- 
centrated on this once splendid thoroughfare largely increased the 
number of the inns. Among these, several were particularly noted 
in their day for the extent of their business and the style with which 
they were conducted, among which were the Eagle, already mentioned, 
the Paoli, kept by the late Gen. Evans, and the Ship, by the late John 
Bowen. These hotels had, and still have, large and splendid farms con- 



RAILWAY VERSUS TURNPIKE. 



19 




nectedwith them, and were conducted with great profit to the proprietors. 
There were a large number of other inns intended for the accommodation 
of tlie wagoners — most of which, after the commencement of the main 
line of railway and canal, were discontinned — the ponderous Conestoga 
team being entirely superseded by the canal boat and railway car. The 
turnpike, previous to the loss of its trade, presented a busy scene — au 
almost unbroken procession of these wagons, each of them drawn by six 
large strong horses, and many of the teams having a row of bells hang- 
ing over the collar of each horse. The wagoners got up a song upon 
the loss of their "occupation," a verse of which is all we can "re- 
commember" — 

Oh, its once I made money by driving my team, 
But now all is hauled on the railroad by steam. 
May the devil catch the man that invented the plan, 
For its ruined us poor wagoners, and every other man. 



The " every other man " referred to were probably the innkeepers 
aforesaid. But really the railway did, at the outset, entail a serious 
loss along the principal line of turnpikes, and even now it exhibits a 
wreck that is rather mournful to contemplate. Not only have the 
Conestoga teams disappeared, but the stage — alas ! the stage-horn no 
longer is heard — the bounding wheels no longer rattle over the white 
compact road. 



20 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

We hear no more the clanking hoof, 

And stage-coach rattling by ; 
For the steam-king rules the travelled world, 

And the pike is left to die. 
The grass creeps over the flinty path. 

And the stealthy daisies steal 
Where once the stage-horse, day by day, 

Lifted his iron heel. 

No more the weary stager dreads 

The toil of the coming morn ; 
No more the bustling landlord runs 

At the sound of the echoing horn ; 
For the dust lies still upon the road, 

And the bright-eyed children play, 
Where once the clattering hoof and wheel 

Rattled along the way. 

No more do we hear the cracking whip. 
Or the strong wheels' rumbling sound; 
And ah ! the water drives us on. 
And an iron horse is found ! 
1 The coach stands rusting in the yard. 

And the horse has sought the plough; 
' We have spanned the world with an iron rail, 
And the steam-king rules us now ! 

The old turnpike is a pike no more — 

Wide open stands the gate ; 
We've made a road for our horse to stride, 

Which we ride at a flying rate ; 
We have filled the valleys and levelled the hilis. 

And tunneled the mountain side ; 
And round the rough crag's dizzy verge. 

Fearlessly now we ride ! 

On — on — on — with a haughty front! 

A pufF, a shriek, and a bound : 
While the tardy echoes wake too late 

To babble back the sound : 
And the old pike road is left alone, 

And the stagers seek the plough ; 
We have circled the earth with an iron rail. 

And the steam-king rules us now ! 



THEPAOLI. 21 

« 
The Paoli, twenty-one miles from Philadelphia, was kept for many- 
years by the late Gen. Joshua Evans, who formerly represented the 
county of Chester in Congress. lie was truly a fine " old gentleman 
of the olden school." During the revolutionary movements in this 
vicinity, the house was occupied by Gen. Washington as his head- 
quarters. About one mile and a half west is the house in which Gen. 
Anthony Wayne* was born. About the same distance, and nearly 




GENERAL WAYNE'S RESIDENCE. 

in the same direction, is the field of the memorable Paoli massacre. 
Wayne, himself, had charge of the American forces thus slaughtered 

*Gen. Anthony Wayne was born in the township of Eastown, Chester Co., 
(about one and a quarter miles south of the Paoli tavern,) on the 1st Jan., 1745. 
He received a thorough education, and was particularly skilled in the mathe- 
matics. After leaving school he became a surveyor, and also paid some atten- 
tion to astronomy and engineering, by which he attracted the attention of Dr. 
Franklin, who became his friend and patron. At the opening of the revolution 
he was a prominent member of the provincial Legislature. He entered the army 
in 1775 as colonel of a corps of volunteers, and was afterwards active on the 
northern frontier at Ticonderoga. Here he was made brigadier-general on the 
21st Feb., 1777. In the battle of Brandywine he commanded the division of 



22 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

with more than barbarous ferocity, which occurred on the night of 
the 20th September, 1777. Soon after the battle of Brandywine the 
two contending armies again met, on the 16th of September, near this 
place, and were about to engage in hostile proceedings, when a severe 
rain storm came on, materially injuring their powder, and otherwise 
rendering an attack from the Americans impracticable. Washington 
thereupon withdrew to the Schuylkill, some five miles northeast, and 
sent Gen. AVayne, with 1500 men, to join Gen. Smallwood, and annoy 
the rear of the enemy, who was posted near a Welsh Church, not far 
off, called Tredyffim. Wayne had encamped in a very retired position, 
near the present monument, and at some distance from the public 
roads. The British General, receiving information from traitors who 
knew every defile in the neighborhood, and every movement of the 
republican troops, detached Gen. Gray, a brave but desperate and 
cruel officer, to cut off Wayne's party. Stealing his way through the 

Chadsford, resisting the passage of the column under Knyphausen with the 
utmost gallantry until near sunset, when, overpowered by superior numbers, he 
was compelled to retreat. At the battle of Germantown he evinced his wonted 
valor, leading his division into the thickest of the fight. 

In all councils of war he was distinguished for supporting the most energetic 
measures. At the battle of Monmouth, he and Gen. Cadwallader are said to 
have been the only two general oflBcers in favor of attacking the enemy. His 
conduct on that occasion elicited the special applause of Gen. Washington. 
His attack upon the fort at Stony Point, in July, 1779, an almost inaccessible 
height, defended by a garrison of six hundred men, and a strong battery of 
artillery, was the most brilliant exploit of the war. At midnight he led his 
troops with unloaded muskets, flints out, and fixed bayonets, and without firing 
a single gun, completely carried the fort, and took five hundred and forty-three 
prisoners. In the attack, he received a wound, from a musket ball, in the head, 
which, in the heat of the conflict, supposing to be mortal, he called to his aids 
to carry him forward, and let him die in the fort. In the campaign of 1781, 
when Cornwallis surrendered, he bore a conspicuous part; and he was after- 
wards actively engaged in Georgia. At the peace of 178?, he retired to private 
life. In 1789 he was a member of the Pennsylvania Convention, and strongly 
advocated the adoption of the Constitution of the United States. In 1792, after 
Harmar and St. Clair had been repeatedly unsuccessful, Wayne took the com- 
mand on the northwestern frontier, and by his wise and prudent measures, his 
excellent discipline and bravery, he gained the decisive battle of the Maumee, and 
concluded the war by the treaty of Greenville, in 1795. A life of peril and 
glory was terminated in Dec, 1796, in a cabin at Presqu'isle, then in the wilder- 
ness, and his remains were deposited, at bis own request, under the flag-staflF of 



RESULTSOFTIIEBATTLE. 23 

woods, and up the narrow defile below the Paoli, he drove in the 
American pickets, and rushed upon the camp. The assailants were 
received with several close and destructive fires, which must have done 
'great execution, but the American troops were compelled~by superior 
numbers to retreat. The number of Americans killed and wounded 
in this action, amounted to one hundred and fifty. Gen. Gray, it is 
said, had ordered his troops to give no quarter. Many victims were 
massacred with ruthless and savage barbarity, after resistance, on 
their part, had ceased. The cry for quarter was unheeded ; the Bri- 
tish bayonet did its work with unpitying ferocity. It is said by some 
that the enemy set fire to the straw in the camp, thus torturing many 
sick and wounded victims who were unable to escape the flames. The 
whole American corps must have been cut ofi", if Wayne had not pre- 
served his coolness. He promptly rallied a few regiments, who with- 
stood the shock of the enemy, and covered the retreat of the others. 
When this attack commenced. Gen. Smallwood was already within a 
mile of the field of battle ; and had he commanded troops to be relied 
upon, might have given a very different turn to the night. But his 
raw militia, falling in with a party returning from the pursuit of 
Wayne, instantly fled in confusion. The neighboring farmers decently- 
buried the dead, numbering fifty-three persons, in one common grave, 
at a spot immediately adjoining the scene of action. Some thirty- 
five years ago, a military company of Chester County, aided with the 

the fort on the margin of Lake Erie. His remains were removed in 1809 by 
his son, Isaac "Wayne, to Radnor churchyard, in Delaware county. 

By direction of the Pennsylvania State Society of Cincinnati, an elegant 
monument was erected, of white marble, of the most correct symmetry and 
beauty. 

South Front. — In honor of the distinguished military services of Major Gen- 
eral Anthoxy Wayne, and as an affectionate tribute of respect to his memory, 
this stone was erected, by his companions in arms, the Pennsylvania State So- 
ciety of the Cincinnati, July 4th, 1S09, thirty-fourth anniversary of the Inde- 
pendence of the United States of America ; an event which constitutes the most 
appropriate eulogium of an American soldier and patriot. 

North Front. — Major General Anthony ^yAYNE, was born near the Paoli, 
Chester county, State of Pennsylvania, A. D. 1745. After a life of honor and 
usefulness, he died in December, 1796, at a military post on the shore of Lake 
Erie, Commander-in-chief of the army of the United States. His military achieve- 
ments are consecrated in the history of his country, and in the hearts of Ma 
countrymen. His remains are hero interred. 



24 



LOCOIMOTIVE SKETCHES. 




PAOLI MONUMENT. 



individual subscriptions of the citizens, erected a monument over the 
remains of the gallant men. It is composed of -vrhite marble, and is 
a pedestal surmounted by a pyramid. Upon the four sides of the 
body of the pedestal are appropriate inscriptions. The grounds en- 
closed, embrace about thirty-sis acres, rising to a gentle elevation, 
and presenting the form of the letter L. The monument is situated 
in the angle of the plot, surrounded by a heavy stone-wall, and shaded 
with stately trees. 

The neighborhood of Paoli is full of interesting incidents connected 
with the revolution, A few miles to the right is Valley Forge, where 
Washington and his army were encamped during the severe winter 
of 1777. Here, half-naked, hungry, and sick, a large number of the sol- 
diers died. The general aspect of the revolution then seemed dark and 
gloomy, and scarcely a ray of hope for future success was left. The 
subsequent campaign, however, dispelled many of these dark clouds, 
and after the affair at Monmouth, new hopes were instilled into the 
hearts of the patriots. 

The two stations between Paoli and Downingtown are without in- 
terest, DowNiNGTOWN, thirty-three miles from Philadelphia, though 
a small village, is one of the oldest settlements in the State, The 
place and the vicinity was originally settled by English emigrants 
from Birmingham. The present occupants live, for the most part, 
upon property that has been in their families for many gene- 



CHESTER VALLEY. 25 

rations. The brick house a few rods west of the railroad depot 
was erected in 1728. It was then the first house (excepting a few 
log cabins) of the pioneers. Downingtown derives its name from 
^.'homas Downing — not, as might be inferred, from the celebrated 
Major Jack Downing, of Downingville. Thomas Downing bought tho 
land from the earlier settlers, in 1730, and soon after built a miU and 
several other improvements upon it, in virtue of which it assumed his 
name. It is a village of neat cottages and green foliage, having a 
strictly rural aspect. Its length is over a mile, stretching along the 
turnpike, the houses standing a few yards back from the road-side, 
surrounded with neat gardens, trees and shrubbery. Even the stores, 
and other places of business, are partially hidden amidst the profu- 
sion of foliage. The people are plain and sober-minded, but though 
very intelligent, are by no means remarkable for enterprise. Never- 
theless, there is a considerable number of mills and factories in the 
vicinity, deriving support entirely from the great agricultural re- 
sources surrounding them, for Downingtown, situated in what is called 
the great valley, is in the heart of the richest agricultural region 
in Pennsylvania. The great valley lies between two ranges of 
hills, running nearly parallel with each other, from the Schuylkill 
river to a point near the western boundary of the county. Extensive 
quarries of limestone are opened at points all along the valley, for 
the supply of lime to the adjacent country. In some parts of its 
range, this limestone is light-colored or white, semi-crystalline or 
granular, affording, where the layers are sufficiently thick and com- 
pact, a splendid marble for architectural and ornamental purposes. 
A large portion of the marble used in the construction of the Girard 
College buildings was obtained in this vicinity. There is a quarry a 
short distance from Downingtown, where excavations have been made 
beyond a hundred feet in depth. The east branch of the Brandywine 
creek, a beautiful stream meandering along its grassy banks in the 
valley, passes through Downingtown, and furnishes the driving power 
to a large flour mill and to iron works. The railroad crosses this 
stream by the bridge a short distance below the town. 

Eleven miles above Downingtown, and forty-one from Philadelphia, 
is CoATESViLLE. This place is, in many respects, similar to Downing- 
town, though its situation is rather more picturesque — having, on its 
northern side, the range of hills which border the great valley. The 
railroad here crosses the west branch of the Brandywine, over a bridge 
3 D 



26 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

towering eighty feet in the air, and stretching across a chasm nearly 
nine hundred feet in width. This stream affords a fine water-power, 
which is extensively used for flour, paper, and other mills, as well as 
factories of various descriptions, in the vicinity of Coatesville. Coates- 
ville was originally settled by a family bearing that comfortable name, 
and dates its origin as for back as 1725, 

Four miles above is Parkesburg, which derives all its importance 
from the machine shops erected here by the State, for the repair and 
manufacture of the running machinery of the railroad.* A large 
number of hands are employed in these shops, which imparts an ac- 
tive appearance to the place. 

Penningtonville, forty-eight miles from Philadelphia, is the last 
station in Chester County. The place is a growing one, surrounded 
with an industrious farming population. 

The territory now included in Chester County, together with much land lying in 
other counties, "was honorably purchased of the Indians by William Penn, and 
•was conveyed in several distinct deeds. The first, bearing date June 25, 1683, 
and signed by an Indian called Wingebone, conveys to William Penn all his 
lands on the west side of the Schuylkill, beginning at the first falls, and extending 
along and back from that river, in the language of the instrument, "so far as 
my right goeth." By another deed of July 14th, 1683, two chiefs granted to the 
proprietary the land lying between the Chester and Schuylkill Rivers. From 
Kikitapan he purchased half the land between the Susquehanna and Delaware, 
in September, and from Malchalola, all lands from the Delaware to Chesapeake 
Bay, up to the Falls of the Susquehanna, in October ; and by a deed of July 30th 
was conveyed the land between Chester and Pennypack Creeks. This last in- 
strument is a quaint piece of conveyancing, and will show the value attached by 
the natives to their lands : 

" This indenture witnesseth that we, Packenah, Jackham, Sikals, Portquesott, 
Jervis Essepenaick, Felktrug, Porvey, Indian kings, sachemakers, right owners 
of all lands from Quing Qingus, called Duck cr., unto Upland, called Chester cr., 

* This road commences at the Market Street Bridge, in Philadelphia, and pur- 
sues a western course, by Downingtown and Lancaster, to Columbia, on the Sus- 
quehanna River, where it connects with the Eastern Division of the Pennsj'lvania 
State Canal. Formerly it had two inclined planes, one at Philadelphia and the 
other at Columbia ; but both have been avoided by laying down new tracks, with 
but slight gradients — the highest not exceeding thirty-five feet to the mile. The 
motive-power on this road, as also on the Alleghany Portage Road, is furnished 
by the State, for which a charge is made in addition to the road toll. This road 
was among the earliest completed in the country — having been opened in April, 
1S34. Cost, $3,983,302. 



CHESTER COUNTY. 27 

all along the west side of Delaware river, and so between the said creeks hacle- 
wardu as far as a man can ride in two dai/s with a Jiorse, for and in consideration 
of these following goods to us in hand paid, and secured to be paid by William 
,Penn, proprietary of Pennsylvania and the territories thereof, viz; twenty guns, 
twenty fathoms match coat, twenty fathoms stroud water, twenty blankets, 
twenty kettles, twenty pounds of powder, one hundred bars of lead, forty toma- 
hawks, one hundred knives, forty pair of stockings, one barrel of beer, twenty 
pounds of red lead, one hundred fathoms of wampum, thirty glass bottles, thirty 
pewter spoons, one hundred awl blades, three hundred tobacco pipes, one hun- 
dred hands tobacco, twenty tobacco tongs, twenty steels, three hundred flints, 
tiiirty pair of scissors, thirty combs, sixty looking-glasses, two hundred needles, 
one skipple of salt, thirty pounds of sugar, five gallons of molasses, twenty to- 
bacco boxes, one hundred jowsharps, twenty hoes, thirty gimlets, thirty wooden 
screw boxes, one hundred and three strings of beads— do hereby acknowledge, 
&c., Ac. Given under our hands and seals, at New Castle, 2d of the eighth 
month, 1C85." 

Chester County received its name in the following manner : When ^Ym. Penn 
first arrived at Upland, now old Chester, turning round to his friend Pearson, 
one of his own society, who had accompanied him in the ship Welcome, he said, 
" Providence has brought us here safely. Thou hast been the companion of my 
perils. AVhat wilt thou that I should call this place?" Pearson replied, 
" Chester, in remembrance fit the city from whence I came." Penn also promised 
that when he divided the territory into counties, he would call one of them by 
the same name. In the beginning of the year 1683, the governor and council 

established a seal for each of the counties, assigning to Chester the plough the 

device still indicative of the thrifty agricultural character of the inhabitants. 

Before the close of the year 1682, no less than twenty-three ships had arrived 
in Pennsylvania from Europe, conveying more than two thousand souls. They 
were principally Friends, who had purchased allotments, and came to occupy 
them. Many were of opulent fiimilies, whom no common consideration could 
hare prevailed upon to leave their homes; and whom, perhaps, nothing but the 
goad of unceasing persecution could have driven entirely away. All were in- 
dustrious, discreet, and prudent, and every way fitted to render a colony pros- 
perous, flourishing, and happy. Not an inconsiderable number of these settled 
in Chester County. Some had taken the precaution to bring with them frames 
of houses and other conveniences; some, who arrived early, were enabled to 
erect temporary cabins of logs, and some were compelled to pass the winter in 
rude shanties, or caves dug in the side of a hill. 

At the time the European emigrants first settled in the county, it was princi- 
pally overshadowed by forests, with here and there a small patch cleared by the 
natives for the purpose of raising corn. Owing to the Indian practice of firing 
the woods once or twice in a year, the small bushes and timber were killed in 
their growth, and of course the forests were but thinly set. One of the first set- 
tlers said, that at the time of his first acquaintance with the country, he could 
3* 



28 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

have driven a horse and cart from one of its extremities to the other, in almost 
any direction without meeting with any material obstruction. 

The early settlers of Chester County were from different parts of Europe, Eng- 
land,Wales,Irclaud,Holland, and Germany. Of these, the English, as they arrived 
first, seated the southern parts adjoining the Delaware, and a few took up lands 
bordering upon the Maryland line. They were principally from Sussex, (the 
residence of Wm. Penn,) Cheshire, Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Northamp- 
tonshire. The Welsh occupied the eastern parts, and settled in considerable 
numbers. The oppression which they suffered in their native country from the 
tyranny of the nobles first determined their emigration, and the happy conse- 
quences resulting to the first adventurers, from their change of situation, induced 
many to follow them. Soon after their arrival here they generally joined the 
society of Friends, and established meetings. AVm. Penn once paid them a visit, 
but as they neither understood his language, nor he theirs, they could only enjoy 
the satisfaction of seeing him. It is said, however, that they were highly grati- 
fied with this mark of his attention and good-will, and took even their little 
children with them to the meeting which he attended, that they also might have 
a sight of the great proprietor. Rowland Ellis was one of their most conspicuous 
characters. 

The Irish emigrants located the north and western sections of the county. 
Those who first arrived were generally men of some standing and character, and 
were welcomed as an accession of virtue and intelligence to the little community. 
They were almost all Protestants, and many of them Friends. The Dutch and 
Germans, who are now the principal land-holders in many of the northern town- 
ships, are not the descendants of the original settlers of those parts. Within 
the memory of those now living, they formed the smallest portion of the popu- 
lation in those very districts where they are now the most numerous. Their 
untiring industry and stubborn perseverance seem to have peculiarly quali- 
fied them to become successful tillers of a soil such as obtains there — fertile, 
indeed, but hard of cultivation ; and the posterity of the Irish, who are not so 
remarkable for the patient qualities of character, seem to have gradually relin- 
quished to them the possession of the land. 

For a number of years the Improvements in those parts of the county seem to 
have been much in the rear of those in other parts of the county. The log 
cabins of the early pioneers were still prevalent as late as 1760. This was partly 
owing to the uncertain tenures by which the real estate was held. 

Soul-Drivers. — This was a name given to a certain set of men who used to 
drive redemptioners through the country, and dispose of them to the fanners. 
They generally purchased them in lots consisting of fifty or more, of captains of 
ships, to whom the redemptioners were bound for three years' service, in pay- 
ment for their passage. The trade was brisk for a while, but at last was broken 
up by the numbers that ran away from their drivers. The last of the igno- 
minious set disappeared about the year 1785. A story is told of his having been 
tricked by one of his herd. The fellow, by a little management, contrived to be 



MINERAL RESOURCES OF CHESTER COUNTY. 29 

the last of the flock that remained unsold, and travelled about with his master. 
One night they lodged at a tavern, and in the morning the young ffllow, who 
was an Irishman, rose early, sold his master to the landlord, pocketed the money, \^ 

_ and marched off. Previously, however, to his going, he used the precaution to 
tell the purchaser, that though tolerably clever in other respects, he was rather 
saucy, and a little given to lying; that he had been presumptuous enough at 
times to endeavor to pass for master, and that he might possibly represent him- 
self as such to him ! 

Chester County Is remarkably ricli in its mineral resources, and for 
varieUj and general usefulness for chemical purposes, it is probably 
not surpassed by any other region, of equal extent, in the United 
States. We have elsewhere observed that, at various points on the 
Schuylkill, above Valley Forge, there are extensive deposits of the ores 
of copper and lead. The formation containing them traverses nearly 
all the counties of Pennsylvania east of the South Mountain. Out-crops 
occur at various places between the Schuylkill and the Susquehanna, 
and mining operations are now being prosecuted with considerable 
spirit and vigor. Indeed, the copper had been worked in the northern 
slope of the Mine Ridge, in Lancaster County, for some time previous 
to the revolution, and the old shafts are now being cleared out with 
the view of again extending them. In Delaware County arrange- 
ments have also been made to mine copper, and that county may be 
said to be literally a copper region. The " barrens" of York county, 
bordering on the Susquehanna, contain no inconsiderable quantity of 
chrome, being a continuation, in detached basins, of the same forma- 
tion so long and so successfully worked in Lancaster County, near the 
Maryland line. A portion of this extensive chrome region also ex- 
tends into Chester County,— but its proximity to navigation in Lan- 
caster has enabled the operators to drive a splendid business in raising 
it. The mineral, wo may add, is sought after to obtain from it the 
chromic acid, for the preparation of the beautiful chrome-yellow used 
in painting and dyeing. Lancaster County is, we believe, the only 
spot in the United States where it is found to any extent, and large 
quantities of it are annually shipped to Europe. There is a variety 
of other valuable minerals found in parts of Chester, among which 
may be mentioned asbestus, magnesites, amethyst, jasper, "garnet, 
schorl, chalcedony, agate, sapphire, beryl, etc. etc. 

The early settlers of Chester, we have already mentioned, were 
Quakers, and the county is still under the influence of their principles 



30 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

and social habits. Their religious creed has a tremendous influence 
upon the social economy of the people — regulating not only their 
course of action, but also their mode of thinking. There is little ac- 
tual difference between their religious creed and that of Protestants 
generally ; — but standing upon the broad platform that the greatest 
enemy of true religion is pride, and that, if not stoutly combated, it 
usurps the moral nature and sentiments of man, they wage a ceaseless 
war against this evil, and fortify themselves in every shape and form 
from its insidious approaches. 

Pride still is aiming at the blest abodes, — 
Men would be angels, angels would be gods. 

Wm. Penn, in his work entitled " No cross, no crown," lays down 
the principles which he professed, and combats, in good plain English, 
the follies and wickedness of the church, all having their origin in 
pride. Splendid church edifices, fashionable dress, and ostentatious 
show, high living and voluptuous ease, the swell of music and the 
excitements of worldly amusement — all are denounced as nourishing 
a family of evils which finally overwhelm the true fountain of revealed 
knowledge. lie is right, no doubt of it. Pride — pride lies at the 
bottom of nearly all our social evils, and it is sheer folly to deny or 
attempt to palliate it. Pride governs the church — ergo, the church is 
corrupted by it. 

The Quakers, therefore, opposing themselves to this monster, ob- 
serve a simplicity in all their movements through life which requires 
the greatest self-denial. They are eternally at war with the flesh. 
Their houses, their churches — their dress, language, thought— all show 
the paramount object in view — simplicity. They do not care about 
churches— it matters not where they worship. They address them- 
selves to the inward spirit which God gave them — it is that which 
moves them — the flesh — the body is the mere earthly tabernacle — the 
temporary dwelling-place of the immortal spirit. Thus quietly, and 
without the assistance of music or worldly machinery, they sit and 
worship ; and no doubt it is the most rational and spiritual way. 

The following engraving illustrates the simple but substantial charac- 
ter of their meeting-houses. It represents one of their oldest places of 
worship near the Brandywine. The interior consists of plain wooden 
benches, with high backs, cleanly scoured, and destitute of paint 



LANCASTER COUNTY 



31 




QUAKER MEETlSG-nOUSE. 

The benches, with a large ten-plate stove, comprise the entire furni- 
ture of the house ! 

As we leave Chester County, and pass through the range of hills 
called the Mine Ridge, the great county of Lancaster, in all its glory, 
expands before the eye. An intelligent Englishman called this 
county the " garden of America," and a view of it from this position 
will fully justify the propriety of the compliment. It is, without 
doubt, the garden of this glorious Union, and there are few spots in 
this wide, wide world, which could present a nobler scene to the eye 
than is here afforded. The Mine Hill winds around the county from 
the Susquehanna in a north-east and south-west course, while the 
South Mountain, or Conewago hills, border it on the north — the dis- 
trict between presenting one broad basin of fertility, with numerous 
subordinate elevations, rolling out one after the other, with interven- 
ing valleys and streams. The broad fields, when laden with the 
ripening harvests, swell to and fro with the sweeping gales, like the 
dark-green waters of the ocean. 



Heavens ! what a goodly prospect spreads around, 
Of hills, and dales, and woods, and lawns, and spires, 
And glittering towns, and gilded streams, till all 
The stretching landscape into smoke decays ! 

The whole broad scene gradually sinks into the dim, blue vapory 
outlines of the bold Kittatinny, which skirt alike the landscape and 



32 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



the overarching firmament. The entire region of country between 
the Mine Ridge and the Conewago Hills, and between those hills and 
the Kittatinny, (called the great Cumberland valley,) presents one 




continuous and almost unvaried scene of agricultural prosperity. 
The soil is naturally rich, as, in addition to the debris deposited over 
the surface by the decomposing matter of the higher lands, it is tra- 
versed at various points by extensive beds of limestone. The whole 
country is, therefore, in the highest state of cultivation ; and in the 
economy which characterizes the general agricultural system, there 
is probably not a more prolific region in the United States. The 
farms are generally small — averaging about eighty acres each — and by 
a judicious division of the land, and rotation of crops, their high state 
of fertility is constantly maintained. The farms in the interior of 
the counties of Lancaster, Berks, Lebanon, and those of the eastern 
portion of the State generally, are more extensive than those situated 
along the lines of improvement — because, denied the ready access to 
market which is afi'orded to the latter, they are compelled to feed cat- 
tle during the winter, and thus consume the grain which could other- 
wise not be disposed of so profitably and conveniently. The cattle, 
or the great bulk of them, are purchased from western drovers dur- 
ing the autumn months, and being fattened in the winter, are sent to 
market in the spring, before western fat cattle arrive, and thus fair 



PENNSYLVANIA FARMING. 33 

prices are usually realized. By this means an abundance of manure 
is secured to the farm, and a fair price for the grain consumed is 
realized. 

The fiirmers living near the city, and on the lines of railroad, turn 
their produce, for the most part, into the dairy, or dispose of their 
grain by the bushel. They also raise a larger proportionate amount 
of poultry, vegetables, and floral and horticultural products. These 
latter, however, do not receive the attention they deserve ; and we 
think if some of our farms were exclusively devoted to the produc- 
tion and improvement of poultry, (a thing very much needed, and, 
at the same time, very easily effected,) in the same manner as the 
most of them now are devoted to the fattening of cattle, they would 
prove more profitable than under the usual monotonous routine of 
farming. The same may be said of vegetables, as well as of floral 
and horticultural plants generally. They are all too much neglected ; 
and one reason is, probably, that the mass of the farmers are not 
competent to raise them in perfection, because they require more 
cultivated taste and scientific principles in their production than the 
ordinary grass and cereal crops. 

Farming is, in fact, throughout Pennsylvania, little less than sys- 
tematic labor — well organized, it is true ; but still only a monotonous 
routine of physical toil, too seldom relieved by mental exercise or 
enjoyment. This is unfortunate. It is the result of old established 
prejudices, deeply-rooted in our German population, who, resisting 
every modern innovation, hold fast to the time-honored principles, 
precepts and examples of their forefathers, and regard it as a moral 
and social duty to " follow in their footsteps." They, therefore, plough, 
plant, and reap, pretty much in the old way, without deviating to the 
right or left, but by industry, frugality, and close attention to their 
afi'airs, generally gather a competency, which is finally distributed 
amongst their children, who in turn travel over the same beaten 
track of agricultural life. 

The system of cropping varies in difi'erent districts ; the following, 
which is given by Mr. Trego, is one of the most common in this sec- 
tion of the State : A field which has been in pasture is ploughed up 
for Indian corn late in the fall, or, more usually, early in the spring. 
The corn is planted in the beginning of ^lay, and well dressed and 
tended through the early part of summer. The corn is planted in 
straight rows, about two feet or more apart, and is hoed or ploughed 

E 



34 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

twice, to keep down the weeds. Sometimes pumpkins are sown with 
the corn. About the last of October the corn ripens and is gathered, 
yielding from thirty to fifty bushels per acre, and on rich soils fre- 
quently more. About the first of the following April the same field 
is again ploughed, aiid sown with oats, which is harvested towards 
the end of July, producing from twenty-five to fifty bushels to the 
acre. The oats' stubble is then ploughed in, and the field, being well 
manured, is sown with wheat in the latter part of September, Rye 
is frequently sown instead of wheat, where the soil is light and thin, 
or where it is not manured ; and many farmers sow both wheat and 
rye. In February or March, clover or other grass seeds are sown ou 
the wheat and rye, Avhich grow among the grain until harvest. The 
wheat and rye are generally fit to cut early in July, and commonly 
yield from twenty to thirty-five bushels per acre. The field is by that 
time covered with young clover, which is left until the following 
summer, when it is cut for hay in June, and a second crop is used for 
pasture or gathered for seed in September. The field may be re- 
mown the following year, or pastured until it comes again in course 
for Indian corn. Some farmers prefer sowing their wheat on a field 
freshly broken up from the grass sod ; some omit the crop of oats 
between the corn, and the wheat or rye ; others take off the Indian 
corn early, and sow wheat or rye immediately after it. The mere 
order of succession in the different crops is not very important, pro- 
vided that the farmer is careful not to exhaust his land by too fre- 
quent repetitions, or by neglecting to plough, manure and dress his 
fields in the best manner. 

Besides the grains already mentioned, buckwheat, flax, barley, po- 
tatoes, turnips, beets, and many other articles are cultivated. Different 
modes of culture and tillage are practiced in different parts of the 
State, according as the variety of soil, climate, or situation renders it 
necessary or expedient. In the more elevated and colder districts, the 
cultivation of Indian corn is not very successful ; but grass, oats, and 
potatoes thrive admirably. Scarcely a farm is to be found in any 
portion of the Atlantic Slope, without its apple orchard of choice and 
selected varieties. Pears, peaches, plums, cherries, and other fruits 
are abundant, and though many farmers are careful to obtain the 
finest kinds, yet there is scarcely sufficient attention bestowed in se- 
lecting and grafting fruit. The demand for good fruit, particularly 
apples, is annually increasing, and it will probably not be long before 



THE AGRICULTURAL POPULATION. 35 

it is abundantly supplied— especially as every quarter of the State 
appears to be well calculated for their growth. Heretofore the great 
bulk of the apples raised has been converted into cider, and on nearly 
all largo farms the cider-press will be noticed as among their most 
prominent features. In Pennsylvania, among the Germans, particu- 
larly, there is a description of sauce called apple butter, and it is 
principally in the manufacture of this article that the cider and apples 
are consumed. In the rural districts apple butter is extensively used 
by every family — in fact, throughout the State, except in a few locali- 
ties, its use is universal, and may be said to rank as one of the neces- 
saries of the table. The cider is boiled in large kettles, holding from 
thirty to forty gallons, into which apples, properly paired and quar- 
tered, are thrown — say two bushels of prepared apples to twenty-five 
gallons of cider. After six to eight hours boiling, during which the 
liquor is constantly stirred, it begins to thicken, and when reduced to 
a tolerable paste, it is taken from the fire, deposited in earthen jars, 
and after standing a few weeks, is of good flavour for use. Boiling 
apple butter, in the counties of Lebanon, Berks, Lehigh, portions of 
Lancaster, and other German counties, is made the occasion of social 
celebration and interchange of neighborly courtesies. The young 
men and women of the neighborhood are invited to spend the 
evening, and it is here that, for the lack of better opportunities, and 
without expensive dress or ostentatious show, the substantial graces 
of the sex are exhibited. 

Agriculture constitutes, by far, the most important interest in Penn- 
sylvania, notwithstanding her immense beds of coal and iron, and 
extensive manufactures. Every other interest, however important, is 
merely subordinate to this, and it is a source of congratulation that 
such is the fact, not only to this State, but to the entire Union. Re- 
moved from the excitements, turmoils, and selfish intrigues of the 
city, the formers are, upon the whole, purer in sentiment, more pat- 
riotic in feehng, and more industrious, honest, and straightforward 
in their course through life, than any other class of people. It is not 
to be disguised that, in some of the higher and nicer points of educa- 
tion, they are often lamentably deficient ; but when we come to weigh 
their substantial virtues with the vices that usually accompany super- 
ficial intelligence, especially in populous places, the vast superiority 
of their condition, as Christian and virtuous citizens, is strikingly ex- 
hibited. Their retired and comparatively isolated position in the 



36 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

country, enables them to smother the spirit of pride and ostentatious 
show, which so often usurps good morals and supplants the better 
judgment of the town's people ; and being thus rendered more simple- 
hearted and sober-minded, they are morally better men, and politically 
better citizens than any other class of people. The integrity of our 
agricultural population is to the political what the Alleghany Mountains 
are to the j^hysical aspect of our glorious country — the back-hone of its 
prosperity. For while the one drains the country of its impurities, 
and pours forth its waters for the internal affairs of trade — purifying 
the atmosphere, and yielding metals which " subject all nature to our 
use and pleasure," the other regulates the political atmosphere, and 
saves it from the extremes into which excited and densely populated 
regions would be sure to embroil it. 

In ancient times, tlie sacred plougli employed 

Tlie kings and awful fathers of mankind ; 

And some, with whom compared your insect tribes 

Are but the beings of a summer's day, 

Have held the scale of empire, ruled the storm 

Of mighty war ; then, with unwearied band. 

Disdaining little delicacies, seized 

The plough, and greatly independent lived. 

It was the misfortune of republican governments, in more ancient 
times, that they had no agricultural population to rely upon — or, 
rather, that they lacked the powerful levers which we are now using 
so successfully to carry out our representative system, viz., the press 
and the post-office. In ancient Greece, for instance, where existed a 
complete democracy, the agricultural population was entirely pro- 
scribed for the want of these tremendous civilizers. To exercise the • 
elective privilege the voter had to repair to the capitol — such a thing 
as voting at home was never dreamed of, because there were no means 
to enable the citizen to give an expression of his principles or to in- 
form him of the nature of political affairs. The popular strength was 
therefore concentrated in the capitol, instead of being distributed, as 
it is here, over " our boundless continent." With these powerful in- 
struments, the farmer in Oregon may exercise his political preroga- 
tives with as much judgment and patriotism, as if he lived within a 
few miles of the capitol. The press is thus a conservator of intelli- 
gence, while the post-oflBce is the distributer, and the two enable us 



LANCASTER COUNTY FARM, 



37 



to carry out the most admirable representative system which the -world 
has ever known ; and so nicely do all its details harmonize with the 
local position, feelings and principles of our people, that probably no 
other form of government, no matter how liberal, would promote 
our happiness and prosperity, or give one-fourth the strength and na- 
tional grandeur which now belong to the people of free America: 

Land of the forest and the rock, 

Of dark blue lake and mighty river, 
Of mountain, rear'd on high to mock 
The storm's career and lightning shock — 

My own green land forever ! 

In passing through this splendid agricultural region, the stranger 
will particularly observe the neatness and order which characterize 
the general aspect of the scene of farming operations, the good fences, 
the substantial and comfortable buildings, and especially the impos- 
ing appearance of the barn. Nearly every large farm has a cluster 




GENEUAI, APPEAKANCE OP A LANCASTER COUNTY FARM. 

of buildings, the most promient of wliieh is the barn, situated nest 
to the mansion-house, around which are scattered wagon and carriage- 
sheds, corn-cribs, spring-house, wash-house, summer diuiiig-house, etc. 



38 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

witli adjacent tenant house. The pride of a Pennsylvania farmer, 
however, is in his barn, and large sums of money are frequently ex- 
pended in its erection. The structure is usually placed along side of 
a small hill, so that a four horse team may be driven into the barn 
floor vrithout overcoming too steep a grade from the road, an arrange- 
ment equally desirable for other considerations. Barns are usually 
over one hundred feet in length, by about forty to sixty feet in depth 
— the loft and threshing-floor overarching by six or eight feet, the 
stables below forming a good shelter. Surprise is often expressed 
by strangers at the contrast generally presented between the ap- 
pearance of the barn and the dwelling house — the former being 
comparatively more imposing than the latter. It is true the contrast 
often augurs unfavorably for the taste and personal convenience of 
the farmer ; but there are circumstances governing the premises of 
the case which a duo regard to economy will not allow him to over- 
look. Feeding a large number of cattle during the winter, as nearly 
every one does, he must provide accommodations of a corresponding 
character, ample in dimensions, and combining with neatness and 
durability of construction, spacious granaries, threshing-floors, hay- 
lofts, rooms for tools and implements, etc., besides stalls for six to a 
dozen head of horses. 

The stock of horses in the eastern portion of Pennsylvania, and 
more particularly in Lancaster County, is worthy of remark. They 
are enormously powerful animals, bred entirely with a view to draught, 
and perfectly unfit for the saddle or light harness. Some thirty years 
ago, when racing was fashionable, the stock of horses embraced some 
splendid specimens of " blooded animals ;" but as this amusement 
finally ran into gross licentiousness, the race-course was abandoned 
by respectable persons, and the quality of the stock, as far as swift- 
ness is concerned, immediately deteriorated. The race-course near Lan- 
caster, on the left side of the railway, between that place and Dillerville, 
was once the scene of some of the finest triumphs of the horse ever 
witnessed in this country. It was the pride and delight of many gen- 
tlemen of fortune, in those days, to enter the " stakes." The spirit of 
rivalry was carried to great lengths — and the horses themselves seemed 

" To share with their masters the pleasiire and the pride." 

Fox-chasing, too, in the days of our " gran'-dads," was a favorite 
amusement, and many of those who declined to participate in the 



THEFOXCHASE. 39 

excitements of the race-course, warmly entered into the chase, for 
which swift hounds, as well as horses, were requisite. Fox-chasing 
is truly a splendid exercise, because in addition to its adventures and 
"hair-breadth escapes," it is made the occasion of social reunions 
amongst neighbors. The description of Thomson is no less appli- 
cable to old England than to young America at the time of which we 
are speaking : 

Give, then, ye Britons, 



Your sportive fury, pitiless, to pour 
Loose on the nightly robber of the fold ! 
Him, from his craggy winding haunts uncarth'd, 
Let all the thunder of the chase pursue. 
Throw the broad ditch behind you ; o'er the hedge 
High-bound, resistless ; nor the deep morass 
Refuse, but through the shaking wilderness 
Pick your nice way ; into the perilous flood 
Bear fearless, of the raging instinct full; 
And as you ride the torrent, to the banks 
Tour triumph sound sonorous, running round, 
From rock to rock, in circling echoes tost : 
Then scale the mountains to their woody tops ; 
Rush down the dangerous steep ; and o'er the lawn, 
In fancy swallowing up the space between. 
Pour all your speed into the rapid game. 
For happy he, who tops the wheeling chase ; 
Has every maze ovolv'd, and every guile 
Disclos'd ; who knows the merits of the pack ; 
Who saw the villain seiz'd, and dying hard, 
AYithout complaint, though by a hundred mouths 
Relentless torn : glorious he, beyond 
His daring peers ! when the retreating hom 
Calls them to ghostly halls of gray renown. 
With woodland honours graced ; the fox's fur. 
Depending decent from the roof; and spread 
Round the drear walls, with antic figures fierce, 
The stag's large front : he then is loudest heard. 
When the night staggers with severer toils, 
With feats Thessalian Centaurs never knew. 
And their repeated wonders shake the dome. 

But first the fuel'd chimney blazes wide ; 
The tankards foam ; and the strong table groans 
Beneath the smoking sirloin, stretch'd immense 



40 LOCOMOTIVESKETCHES. 

From side to side ; in which, with desperate knife 
They deep incision make, and talk the while 
Of England's glory, ne'er to be defaced, 
While hence they borrow vigor : or amain 
Into the pasty plunged, at intervals, 
If stomach keen can intervals allow. 
Relating all the glories of the chase. 
Then sated Hunger bids his brother Thirst 
Produce the mighty bowl; the mighty bowl, 
Swell'd high with fiery juice, steams liberal round, 
A potent gale, delicious, as the breath 
Of Maia to the love-sick shepherdess. 
On violets diffus'd, while soft she hears 
Her panting shepherd stealing to her arms. 

The days of fox-chasing, in this quarter, have long since passed, and 
there are few yet living -who shared the -wild sport. Poor Reynard has 
escaped to wilder retreats in the mountains, from whose woody soli- 
tudes he can venture with more safety upon the lazy flocks rumina- 
ting in the green valleys below. Horse-racing, if not entirely aban- 
doned, has degenerated into mere "scrub contests," in which "fast 
quarter-nags" run at a rate somewhat less than a mile in forty min- 
utes and fifty-five seconds ! Still the villagers of our agricultural 
districts enter into these little excitements with great satisfaction, and 
betting sometimes runs into large odds — 



■'b 



I'll bet my money on the bob-tail nag — 

Who will bet on the gray ! — 
Two-to-one on the Camptown brag — 

I'll take you, sir, on the bay ! 

As soon as the harvest is gathered, there is a succession of celebra- 
tions, in which the whole rural population take part — young and old 
of both sexes repair to the village, and interchange friendly greetings, 
join in the dance, show each other " delicate attentions," make pres- 
ents, promises, explanations, and so forth. Horse-racing but adds to 
the general interest of the day, and there is nothing in which the " gay 
gallants" exhibit more pride than in the spirit and equipage of their 
steeds. Each farmer's son, when he becomes " of age," has his horse, 
raised under his own care, on the form. Young and spirited like the 
rider, the animal is superfluously rigged with a bright shining yellow 



farmer's cattle. 41 

saddle, two flaming red streaked girths, a broad cropper and martin- 
gale, two broad reins, with a bridle of corresponding gaudiness, while 
below, to give a still more imposing aspect to the paraphernalia, is a 
, broad leather halter. The whole is tastefully surmounted with a red 
or yellow tassel. Thus equipped, the young horse feels and is taught 
to feel that ho has a duty to perform. It is his business to convey the 
impression that he has stamina — he must bite the bit, jerk up his 
head betimes, and paw furiously with his feet, and evince, by everv 
possible jesture, the untamed wildness of his nature. He must learn 
to recognize his master's pride — the dear object of his hopes, his love, 
and fears — failing in which, he must needs feel the spur's prickly bite, 
and dance and prance gaily over the road ! It is thus that horseman- 
ship often opens the door to a maid's affections — ^she sees, she ad- 
mires — then, alas ! she loves ! 

We have stated that the horses in the districts of agriculture are 
exceedingly large and awkward — fit only for the plough and team. It 
is only in these districts, however, that such horses are mainly used. 
In other sections of the State the stock is better blooded, in conse- 
quence of being more used under the saddle. Oxen are employed to 
some extent for labor, particularly in the newly settled and rougher 
parts of the country — while mules are generally preferred at iron and 
colliery works, being very hardy and long-lived, as well as capable of 
drawing heavy loads in the team. 

The stock of milch cows has been greatly improved by the impor- 
tation of many noble animals from England, and so apparent is the 
advantage which has accrued, that it will probably not be many 
years before the whole of the present inferior stock will have disap- 
peared from every good farm in the State. The sheep have been also 
much improved by crossing with the Spanish and English varieties. 
Wool-growing, however, forms but a very small branch of the agri- 
culture of the eastern counties of Pennsylvania. In the county of 
Washington, and throughout the northwest and mountain regions of 
the AUeghanies, it is probably the most important feature of hus- 
bandry, and it is there where our flocks have been greatly improved 
in the quantity and quality of the fleece. The following statistics 
from the census bureau, exhibit the extent of the productive re- 
sources of Pennsylvania, in the year 1850— a year which, by the way, 
was by no means remarkable for general prosperity : 
4* F 



42 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES 



Number of acres of improved land, 

Value of farming implements and machinery, 

Value of live stock. 

Quantity of wheat grown, in bushels, 



tt 


Indian corn, " 


u 


Tobacco, in pounds, 


M 


Wool, 


M 


Wine manufactured, in gallons, 


it 


Butter, in pounds, . 


«( 


Cheese, 


« 


Hay, in tons, 


tc 


Hemp, dew rotted, in tons, 


(( 


" water rotted, " 


tc 


Flaxseed, in bushels. 


t* 


Maple sugar, in pounds. 



8,619,631 

$14,931,993 

42,156,711 

15,482,191 

19,707,702 

857,619 

4,784,367 

23,839 

40,554,741 

2,395,279 

1,826,265 

173 

686 

43,627 

2,218,644 

The first settlers of Lancaster County, as also those of Berks, Leb- 
anon, and portions of others adjacent, were Germans, many of them 
belonging to peculiar religious denominations, as the Mennonists, Sev- 
enth-day Baptists, &c. A large portion of the present population of 
the county still adheres to the religious tenets of their forefathers ; 
and whatever may be thought of them in other respects, their mode 
of life is simple and without reproach. Virtuous, honest, and indus- 
trious, they constitute decidedly the most substantial and respectable 
class of the people. Certain of them wear long beards, and coats 
without buttons — the fabric invariably of their own plain manufac- 
ture. Seeing these venerable patriarchs disposing of their little 
business affairs in a simple, straightforward, and unaffected manner, 
prepossesses one very much in their favor, and challenges the 
highest respect for their religious sentiments. They endeavor to fol- 
low, as nearly as possible, the way pointed out, in their own view, 
by the Saviour ; and the more effectually to do this, shut themselves 
out from the world, as far as circumstances will allow, and exclude 
every feeling of personal pride or vanity ; kind, charitable and hospita- 
ble they practise in their own life the closest self-denial. We know 
no class of men who come nearer, in their works and actions, to the 
standard of pure Christian principle ; they are good to a fault, and 
virtuous in the broadest sense of the word. They have no salaried 
preachers, but every man does what he can to illustrate the purity 
of religion, and to scatter broadcast the blessings of its holy teach- 
ings. In their private life, the lines of young Pope are probably as 
applicable to them as any other people on the globe : 



43 



E P II R A T A . 

Happy the man whoso wish and caro 

A few paternal acres bound, 
Content to breathe his native air, 
In his own ground. 

Whose herds with milk, whose fields with bread. 

Whose flocks supply him with attire, — 
Whoso trees in summer yield him shade, 
In winter, fire. 

Blest who can unconcern'dly find 

Hours, days, and years glide soft away, 
In health of body, peace of mind. 
Quiet by day. 

Sound sleep by night; study and ease 
Together mixed ; sweet recreation ; 
And innocence, which most doth please, 
With meditation. 

Thus let me live, unseen, unknown, 

Thus unmolested let me die; 
Steal from the world, and not a stone 
Tell where I lie ! 



The Seventh-day Baptists, who are seceders from the Dunkers, es- 
tablished themselves at Ephrata, in 1730. This is a little village 
lying about seven miles north-east of Lancaster. Their life, at first 
solitary, was soon changed to a conventual one, and a monastic 
society was established in 1733. Monastic names and habits were 
assumed, and the cloister soon numbered upwards of one hundred 
persons, of both sexes. The number of outside members was about 
two hundred or more. The society was prosperous and increased, 
and it soon became necessary to erect larger buildings. These were 
erected sometime about 1740, and consisted of a sister's house, with 
a chapel attached, and a brother's house, containing a large meeting- 
room, with galleries, in which the whole society assembled for public 
worship. These buildings, which are still standing, and exhibited in 
the following engraving, were surrounded with numerous others, of 
small dimensions, and included a school-house, printing-office, paper- 
mill, &c. The buildings arc singular, and of ancient stylo of archi- 
tecture, all the outside walls being covered with shingles. 



44 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES 




BROTHERS ASD SISTERS HOUSES AT EPHBATA 



The two bouses for the brethren and sisters are very large, being 
three and four stories high : each has a chapel for their night meet- 
ino-s, and the main buildings are divided into small apartments, (each 
containing between fifty and sixty,) so that six dormitories, which 
are barely large enough to contain a cot, (in early days a bench and 
billet of wood for the head,) a closet, and an hour-glass, surround 
a common room, in which each subdivision pursued their respective 
avocations. On entering these silent cells, and traversing the long 
narrow passages, visitors can scarcely divest themselves of the feeling 
of walking the tortuous windings of some old castle, and breathing in 
the hidden recesses of romance. The ceilings have an elevation of 
but seven feet; the passages leading to the cells, or " kammers," as 
they are styled, and through the different parts of both convents, are 
barely wide enough to admit one person, for when meeting a second, 
one has always to retreat ; — the dens of the kammers are but five feet 
high, and twenty inches wide, and the window, for each has but one, 
is only eighteen by twenty-four inches ; the largest windows, afi"ording 
light to the meeting rooms, are but thirty-four inches. The walls of all 
the rooms, including the meeting-room, the chapels, the saals, and even 
the kammers, or dormitories, are hung and nearly covered with large 
sheets of elegant penmanship, or ink-paintings, many of which are texts 
from the Scriptures, done in a very handsome manner, in ornamented 
Gothic letters, called in the German, Fractur-schrifi'ten. They are done 
on large sheets of paper, manufactured for the purpose at their own 
mill, some of which are put into frames, and which admonish the resi- 
dent, as well as the casual visitor, which ever way they may turn the 
head. There are some very curious ones : two of which still remain 
in the chapel attached to Saron. One represents the narrow and 



EPHRATA. 45 

crooked way, done on <i sheet of about three feet square, ■which it 
would be difficult to describe — it is very curious and ingenious: the 
, whole of the road is filled up with texts of Scripture, ad\'ertising the- 
disciples of their duties, and the obligations their profession imposes 
upon them. Another represents the three heavens. In the first, 
Christ, the Shepherd, is represented gathering his flock together ; in 
the second, which occupies one foot in height, and is three feet wide, 
three hundred figures, in the Capuchin dress, can be counted, with 
harps in their hands, and the heads of an innumerable host ; and in 
the third is seen the throne, surrounded by two hundred archangels. 
Many of these Fractur-schrifi"tens express their own enthusiastic senti- 
ments on the subject of celibacy, and the virtue of a recluse life, while 
others are devotional pieces. 

The society owned a farm, a grist-mill, paper-mill, oil-mill, and full- 
ing-mill. All the society's property was in common, and the labor of 
the members ; but individual members were not compelled to relinquish 
private property which they might have held previous to joining the 
society. 

They receive the Bible as the only rule of faith and code of laws for 
church government. No monastic vows were taken, nor had they any 
written covenant. They believe in the divinity of Christ and the Trinity 
of the Godhead, and rely on the merits and atonement of the Saviour, 
and that he died for all who call upon his name and oifer fruits of re- 
pentance. They contend for the observance of the original Sabbath. 
They hold on to the apostolic baptism, and administer trine immersiou 
with the laying on of hands and prayer, while the recipient is kneel- 
ing in the water. They celebrate the Lord's Supper at night, in imi- 
tation of our Saviour, washing at the same time each other's feet, 
agreeably to his command and example. Celibacy they consider a 
virtue, but never require it, nor do they take any vows in reference to 
it. They never prohibited lawful intercourse, but when two concluded 
to be joined in wedlock, they were aided by the society. Celibacy, 
however, Avas always urged as more conducive to a holy life. They 
do not approve of paying their ministers a salary, thinking the gospel 
was sent without money or price — but share their own supplies with 
them. 

It is not one of their customs to wear long beards, as is frequently 
said of tliem : this is more the case with the Dunkers and Mcnnonists. 
They are often represented as living on vegetables, — the rules of the 



46 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



society forbidding meats, for tlie purpose of mortifying tlie natural 
appetite, — and also as lying on wooden benches, with billets of wood 
for pillows, as an act of penance. The true reason and explanation 
of this matter is, that both were done from considerations of economy. 
Their circumstances were very restricted, and their undertaking great. 
They studied the strictest simplicity and economy in all their arrange- 
ments : wooden flagons, wooden goblets, and turned wooden trays, were 
used in administering the communion ; and the same goblets are still 
in use, though they have been presented with more costly ones. Even 
the plates off of which they ate were octangular pieces of thin poplar 
boards ; their forks and candlesticks were of wood, and also every 
other article that could be made of that material was used by the 
whole community. After they were relieved from the pressure of 
their expensive enterprise in providing such extensive accommoda- 
tions, they enjoyed the cot for repose, and many other of the good 
things of life ; though temperance in eating and drinking was scrupu- 
lously regarded. 

Although opposed to bearing arms, they opened their houses cheer- 
fully to succor and comfort the distressed inhabitants of Paxton and 
Tulpehocken during the old French war — for which the government 
rendered them its acknowledgments, and Gov. Penn offered them a 
whole manor of land, but they would not receive it. During the re- 
volution they were decided whigs. After the battle of Brandywine 

the whole establishment was open to receive the 
=:^^ wounded Americans; their Sabbath- school 
1^^ house was converted into an hospital ; great 
^^K numbers of the sick were transported here in 
"^^gfc wagons ; the camp fever broke out among them, 
jb and one hundred and fifty were buried on the 
top of Mount Zion. Here their remains reposed 
unnoticed — unhonored and unsung — until a few 
years ago, when a subscription was set on foot, 
through the instrumentality of ]Mr. Konig- 
macher, and a monument to their memory com- 
menced on the 4th of July, 1843. The occasion 
MONUMENT AT EPiiuATA. ^^,^g cclcbrated with much spirit. Thousands 
of people from all parts of the surrounding country were present, 
and participated in the ceremonies attending the laying of the corner- 
stone. Hon. Joseph R. Chandler, of Philadelphia, delivered an address, 




E P 11 R A T A SPRINGS 



47 



detailing and commenting upon the historical incidents involved. 
The monument is still in an unfinished state, but hopes are enter- 
tained that sufficient funds will soon be accumulated to accomplish 
the object intended. 




"^^^^^^.^^mri^^X, 




EPHRAT.V MOUNTAIN SPRINGS. 



The Ephrata ^Mountain Springs, kept by Joseph Konigmachcr, Esq., 
are delightfully situated on the Ephrata Ridge. Here the South 
Mountain is the dividing ridge, the waters on the south side run into 
the Chesapeake, and in the north to the Delaware. The water is 
pure, soft sandstone and slate ; the temperature of the difi'erent springs 
is, some very cold, others more moderate, but for drinking or bathing, 
and its restorative qualities to health for diseased or frail constitu- 
tions, it is but seldom excelled. As a delightful summer resort it is 
extensively patronized ; the superb variety of landscape scenery, and 
the lovely drives affording a pleasant succession of novel and beauti- 
ful views. 



48 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

Passing two or three unimportant stations, (including that of 
Kinzer's, where there is a brancli railway to Strasburg, three miles 
distant) we reach the city of Lancaster. This city has recently 
made much progress in improvement, and its population has been 
correspondingly increased. It is now nearly fourteen thousand, 
whereas, only a few years ago, it was but eight thousand. It is an 
old town, having been laid out in 1730 by Andrew Hamilton, pro- 
prietor of the land, and at that time one of the most influential men 
connected with the government. For the purpose of attracting popu- 
lation, the proprietor sold the lots at low and accommodating rates, 
subject to a small annual ground-rent. This had the effect of drawing 
together a large number of inhabitants, principally poor mechanics ; 
and the town was composed almost entirely of small one-storied 
houses. The citizens, by their industry and frugality, gradually be- 
came the owners of the humble tenements they occupied, subject to 
the ground-rent mentioned. There were no large manufacturing 
establishments, but a large number of small ones, conducted solely on 
individual account. There were very few families of fortune, but 
these were unusually rich, and commanded an influence of correspond- 
ing extent. As one-storied houses always |;aicZ better, in view of the 
class of people to be accommodated, those who had money to invest 
in improvements, generally expended it in the erection of such build- 
ings. 

The original aspect of the town is still retained, to some extent ; 
though there are now in full operation several of the largest cotton 
and iron establishments in the State. The erection of these magnifi- 
cent industrial establishments has given an impulse and tone to the 
business of the place which it never knew before. Like many other 
county-seats,Lancaster long labored under the paralysing influences of a 
superfluous professional population — a population which, whatever its 
social merit, does nothing but consume, without contributing to the real 
productions or substantial wealth of a community. The place is still 
literally overrun with professional men — including a horde of smiling, 
friendly politicians, awaiting their " turn" for the suffrages of the 
" free and independent electors" of the " old guard." There is no 
county in the State — there is probably none in the Union — where 
more interest is manifested in political affairs ; at the same time, it 
must be observed, there is none which has more offices to bestow ! 
Lancaster has produced some of the most skilful practitioners in the 



> 

o 

> 

M 




ii;'Ii';>;;,iT'i;: 



mmm 



G 



LANCASTER. 51 

political arena. Indeed, any one who has graduated in its schools, 
may safely venture forth, relying on his " tactics." The learned pro- 
fessions, too, embrace some of the brightest ornaments in the country, 
while the population, as a whole, is intelligent and" enterprising — 
though with the elements surrounding them, hardly as enterprising 
and public spirited as might reasonably be expected. Some of the 
citizens are very rich, and, as recent experiments have proved, could 
safely invest their capital in objects conceived in the spirit of taste 
and liberality. Lancaster, with half the talent and energy wasted in 
her political struggles, might readily become one of the principal 
workshops of Pennsylvania. Convenient to the anthracite coal beds, 
situated in a most magnificent agricultural region, with inexhaustible 
deposits of valuable minerals — as iron ore, copper, chrome, lead, lime- 
stone, &c. — these advantages added to her close proximity to the sea- 
board, and a superabundance of idle capital, where is the obstacle 
between her and future greatness and prosperity ? 

The Conestoga, a beautiful winding stream, passes along the south 
ern outskirts of the city, and empties into the Susquehanna at Safe 
Harbor, ten miles distant. The Conestoga is rendered navigable for 
boats of the largest class, by a series of dams and locks. The amount 
of business done is small ; but it afi'ords a splendid water-power for 
mills, which are plentifully distributed along its banks, as well as 
the sti'eams emptying into it. Lancaster has a larger number of 
flouring mills than any other county of equal extent in the Union — 
the whole number exceeding three hundred, exclusive of clover, saw, 
and other mills. The Conestoga is connected at Safe Harbor witli 
the Tide Water Canal, situate on the opposite side of the Susque- 
hanna. The boats are towed across the river by a steamboat. It is 
at this place that the splendid rolling mills and furnaces of Messrs. 
Reeves, Abbott & Co., are located. These works were erected a few 
years ago at a probable cost of two hundred thousand dollars. Large 
bods of iron ore surround them, and the site is in all respects admir- 
able for an establishment of this character. Most of the iron used 
on the Central Railroad Avas manufactured at this place, and we ven- 
ture nothing in saying, that in all the essentials constituting a perfect 
rail, a more complete one never was laid down in the United States. 
Having passed over a large portion of the road on foot, we had an 
opportunity of observing its qualities. At some places, whore land- 
slides had occurred, the superstructure of the road was entirely re- 



52 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

moved out of its place, and the rails bent luMi-ly double; but in no 
instance had a fracture occurred. Nor is the metal too soft or yield- 
ing ; for notwithstanding the heavy pressure to which a portion of 
the road has been exposed, for several years past, we did not meet a 
single instance of splitting or splintery fracture, so common along the 
edges of rails on other roads. This is particularly the case on the Ncav 
York and Erie Railroad, and is one reason why the travel over it is 
rendered so dangerous. At some places the metal is too brittle, and 
will not withstand the bouncing momentum occasioned by short curva- 
tures. The rail, therefore, breaks in the most dangerous places, and 
this is an evil which can only be overcome by the substitution of a 
new and better quality of rail. The Erie Railroad Company, with 
the laudable desire of remedying this defect on other portions of their 
road, ordered rails of American manufacture — the other, of course, 
having been so-called cheap English iron. But in this case they were 
unfortunate in getting a rail entirely too soft, so that it is full of splin- 
tery fractures, the edges flattened down, and deep depressions at the 
place of jointure. This portion of the road, therefore, is just as dan- 
gerous as the other, and so palpable has this fact become, that a New 
York paper, some time ago, speaking of the case of a criminal sen- 
tenced to be executed, advised the Governor to commute his sentence 
to transportation over the Erie Railroad, so as to give the poor fellotv 
one chance in a hundred for his life! 

In the immediate vicinity of Safe Harbor is a place called Indian- 
town. It is the site of an old Indian village, formerly occupied by the 
Conesiagos, and some of the most interesting conferences between 
them and the whites were held there. Many relics of the Indians 
have been picked up by the inhabitants, and several rocks, along the 
Susquehanna, bear their quaint markings. William Penn paid them 
a visit on one occasion, and was received with marked respect. As 
the whites gathered around them, the Indians gradually fell within 
the pale of civilization, and for many years those that remained pur- 
sued the peaceful ways of agriculture. The surrounding country is 
very rich, being an extensive limestone formation, which, towards the 
north, gradually sinks under the Turkey Hills. These hills, along 
the Susquehanna, rise up in immense cliffs, giving to the scenery an 
aspect of great wildness and sublimity. 

Safe Harbor has always been a great fishing-place, but has been 
rendered especially so, of late years, owing to the construction of the 



SHAD FISHING IN THE SUSQUEHANNA. 



00 



dam in the Susquehanna, to render it navigable for the steam-tow 
boats. The dam appears to arrest the progress of the fish, in their 
upward course, and the fisheries below are rendered correspondingly 
successful. Immense quantities of shad are caught with the seine, the 
process of which is indicated in the above engraving. The seine is 
generally one hundred yards in length, and from four to six feet in 
width, varying according to the depth of the water. One edge of the 
seine is heavily loaded with lead, while the other has numerous corks 




SHAD FISHING IX THE StJSQUEHANXA. 



or wooden buoys, so that it floats in the water in an upright position. 
The seine is carried two or three hundred yards above the fishing bat- 
tery, when one end is taken in a boat, which is rowed out from the 
shore in a circular course, and hauled in at the battery, the other end 
in the meantime, arriving at the same place. The process of hauling 
in the seine is represented in the engraving. Shad generally run in 
schools ; and in clear weather, with the aid of a spy glass, their ap- 
proach may be descried from the battery. The hauls are, therefore, 
irregular ; but when a school is efiectually surrounded with the seine, 
an immense number is sure to be captured, as few are able to escape 
its delicate net-work. Shad fishing is somewhat laborious, and is 



56 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

followed entirely with a view to profit. It is, however, at times, very 
exciting, and the fishermen have a merry time of it. Before the 
erection of the dams in the Susquehanna, shad-fishing was a regular 
pursuit for many persons all along the Susquehanna, and some 
fisheries were among the most productive properties in the State, 
their annual profits yielding, in a course of years, large fortunes. 

The Conestoga, while it is the only small stream in the State upon 
which steamboats run, is also the first upon which experiments for 
steam navigation were made. William Henry, of Lancaster, as 
early as 1760, instituted a series of experiments on this subject, and 
it is said partially succeeded, but in the midst of them his boat was 
accidentally sunk in the river, and he himself shortly after died. 
But while his efi'orts thus failed, it remained for another son of Lan- 
caster to complete what had only been commenced. About this period 
Robert Fulton was born, in the township bearing his name. His pa- 
rents shortly after removed to Lancaster, where Fulton received a good 
education. He subsequently went to London, and having early evinced 
apartialityforpainting,placed himself under the charge of SirBenjamin 
West, the celebrated American artist, then and for a long time afterwards, 
a resident of that city. He here became acquainted with the Duke 
of Bridgewater, and other distinguished scientific and pi-actical' men, 
and entered warmly into some of their projects, in reference to canals 
and internal navigations. He soon after obtained patents for an 
indined-jjlane for transportation, and certain instruments for excavat- 
ing canals. Removing afterwards to France, he made himself mas- 
ter of the French, Italian, and German languages, and formed a 
lasting friendship in Paris with the celebrated Joel Barlow, in whose 
family he resided. In the meantime he acquired a knowledge of 
the higher range of mathematics, chemistry, and physical philoso- 
phy, the result of which was several important improvements in tlie 
mechanic arts and submarine navigation, for two of which he ob- 
tained patents. He performed many experiments in the harbor of 
Brest, with his plunging-boats and torpedos, demonstrating the prac- 
ticability of employing subaquatic explosion and navigation for the 
destruction of vessels. This invention, remarks Mr. Day, attracted 
the attention of the British government, and overtures were made to 
him by the ministry which induced him to go to London, with the 
hope that they would avail themselves of his machines"; but a de- 
monstration of their efficacy which he gave the ministry, by blowing 




Fulton's experiments. 57 

up a vessel in their presence, led them to wish to suppress the inven- 
tion rather tlian encourage it ; and accordingly they declined patro- 
nizing him. During tliis period he also made many efforts to discover 
a method of successfully using the steam-engine for the propelling of 
boats, and as early as 1793 made such experiments as inspired him 
with great confidence in its practicability. Robert R. Livingston, 
Esq., chancellor of the state of New York, and minister of the United 
States to the French court, on 
his arrival in France, induced 
him to renew his attention to 
this subject, and embarked with 
him in making experiments 
for the purpose of satisfying 
themselves of the possibility 
of employing steam in navi- 
gation. IVIr. Fulton engajred 

. , . . . ° ° THE CLERMOXT. 

With intense interest in the trial, 

and, in 1803, constructed a boat on the river Seine, at their joint 
expense, by which he fully evinced the practicability of propelling 
boats by that agent. He immediately resolved to enrich his country 
with this invaluable discovery ; and on returning to New York in 

1806, commenced, in conjunction with Mr. Livingston, the construc- 
tion of the first Fulton boat, which was launched in the spring of 

1807, from the ship-yard of Charles Brown, Now York, and com- 
pleted in August. It was one hundred feet long, twelve feet wide, 
and seven feet deep. In 1808 it was lengthened to one hundred and 
fi.fty feet, and widened to eighteen feet. This boat, which was called the 
Clermont, (from the seat of the Livingston family,) demonstrated on 
the first experiment, to a host of at first incredulous but at length 
astonished spectators, the correctness of his expectations, and the 
value of his invention. Between this period and his death he super- 
intended the erection of fourteen other steam-vessels, and made great 
improvements in their construction. 

" As I had occasion to pass daily to and from the building-yard," 
said Fulton, " while my boat was in progress, I have often loitered 
unknown near the idle groups of strangers gathering in little circles, 
and heard various inquiries as to the object of this new vehicle. The 
language was uniformly that of scorn, sneer, or ridicule. The loud 
laugh rose at my expense, the dry jest, the wise calculation of losses 

H 



58 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

and expenditures, the dull but endless repetition of the "Fulton 
folly." Never did a single encouraging remark, a bright hope, or a 
warm wish, cross my path. Silence itself was but politeness veiling 
its doubts or hiding its reproaches. At length the day arrived when 
the experiment was to go into operation. To me U was a most trying 
and interesting occasion. I invited many friends to go on board to 
witness the first successful trip. Many of them did me the favor to 
attend as a matter of personal respect ; but it was manifest they did 
it with reluctance, fearing to be partners of my mortification and not 
of my triumph. I was well aware that in my case there were many 
reasons to doubt of my own success. The machinery, (like Fitch's 
before me,) was new and ill made; and many parts of it were con- 
structed by mechanics unacquainted with such work, and unexpected 
difficulties might reasonably be presumed to present themselves from 
other causes. The moment arrived in which the word was to be given 
for the vessel to move. My friends were in groups on the deck. 
There was anxiety mixed with fear among them. They were silent, 
sad, and weary. I read in their looks nothing but disaster, and al- 
most repented of my efforts. The signal was given, and the boat 
moved on a short distance and then stopped, and became immovable. 
To the silence of the preceding moment now succeeded murmurs of 
discontent, and agitations, and whispers, and shrugs. I could hear 
distinctly repeated, 'Hold you it was so; it is a foolish scheme ; I 
icish we ivere well out of it.' I elevated myself upon a platform, and 
addressed the assembly. I stated that I knew not what was the 
matter ; but if they would be quiet, and indulge me for half an hour, 
I would either go on or abandon the voyage for that time. This short 
respite was conceded without objection. I went below and examined 
the machinery, and discovered that the cause was a slight maladjust- 
ment of some of the work. In a short period it was obviated. The 
boat was again put in motion. She continued to move on. All were 
still incredulous. None seemed willing to trust the evidence of their 
own senses. We left the fair city of New York ; we passed through 
the romantic and ever-varying scenery of the Highlands ; we descried 
the clustering houses of Albany ; we reached its shores ; and then, 
even then, when all seemed achieved, I was the victim of disappoint- 
ment- Imagination superseded the influence of fact. It was then 
doubted if it could be done again ; or if done, it was doubted if it 
could be made of any great value." 



CHARACTEROPFULTON. 59 

Fulton obtained a patent for his inventions in navigation by steam 
in February, 1809, and another for some improvements, in 1811. In 
the latter year he was appointed, by the Legislature of New York, one 
of the commissioners to explore a route for a canal from the great 
lakes to the Hudson, and engaged with zeal in the promotion of that 
great work. On the commencement of hostilities between the United 
States and Great Britain, in 1812, he renewed his attention to sub- 
marine warfire, and contrived a method of discharging guns under 
water, for which he obtained a patent. In 1814 he contrived an armed 
steamship for the defence of the harbor of New York, and also a 
submarine vessel, or j^lunging boat, of such dimensions as to carry 
one hundred men, the plans of which being approved by government, 
he was authorized to construct them at the public expense. But be- 
fore completing either of those works he died suddenly, February 
24th, 1815. His person was tall, slender, and well formed ; his man- 
ners graceful and dignified, and his disposition generous. His attain- 
ments and inventions bespeak the high superiority of his talents. 
He was an accomplished painter, was profoundly versed in mechanics, 
and possessed an inventive faculty of great fertility, which was al- 
waj's directed by an eminent share of good sense. His style as a 
writer was perspicuous and energetic. To him is to be ascribed the 
honor of inventing a method of successfully employing the steam- 
engine in navigation, — an invention justly considered one of the 
most important which has been made in modern times, and by which 
he rendered himself both a perpetual and one of the greatest bene- 
factors of mankind. Some of Fulton's relatives still reside near the 
spot where he was born ; which is further interesting from the foct 
that the parents of the late Mr. Calhoun, of South Carolina, for a 
long time lived there ; some persons allege that it -was the place of 
his birth. 

Lancaster is known, also, as the residence of the Hon. James Bu- 
chanan, who removed here from Franklin County upwards of forty 
years ago. Mr. Buchanan lives in a plain, but substantial brick 
house about one mile from Lancaster. It was lately the residence 
of Hon. W. M. Meredith, Secretary of the Treasury during General 
Taylor's administration. The estate, which is a delightful one, is 
surrounded by fine shade trees. It is called Wheatland, from tli(< 
splendid agricultural district adjacent. The Hon. Thaddeus Stevens, 
one of the most brilliant lawyers in Pennsylvania, and at present 



60 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

the representative of this county in Congress, has also resided in 
Lancaster for many years past. He is a native of Caledonia County, 
Vei'mont. Personally, Mr. Stevens is one of the best men living ; — 
politically, he is known for his extreme measures, vrhich, were they 
less sectional in character, would render his position in Congress much 
more popular and commanding than it is under present circumstances. 
It is his splendid personal and intellectual qualities which sustain him ; 
in the absence of these, with his strong sectional views, he probably 
never would have been heai-d at all in the councils of the nation. 

Thomas M'Elrath, Esq., of the firm of Greely & M'Elrath, proprie- 
tors of the New York Tribune, lives in a handsome retired mansion, 
one mile north of Lancaster. Hon. Ellis Lewis, the eminent jurist, 
and one of the Supreme Judges of Pennsylvania, also lives at this 
place. He is regarded by many as one of the most learned exponents 
of the law in this country. His occasional contributions to our peri- 
odical literature have aided this reputation ; these, although thrown 
off in his idle moments, may be regarded as the poetic cream accumu- 
lating upon the surface of a fine intellect, and which the more sub- 
stantial elements of the law refuse to skim oif. Judge Lewis has a 
daughter — the wife of James H. Campbell, Esq., of Pottsville — who 
also enjoys a conspicuous position in the literary circles of our country. 
Gliding, as she does, over the clear, transparent water of poesy, Mrs. 
Campbell has a mind and heart to realize all its varied beauties, and 
sings them in the purest and sweetest strains. 

One mile northwest of Lancaster, the State Railway intersects that 
of the Lancaster and Harrisburg line, thirty-sis miles in length. The 
former extends to Columbia, ten miles distant. Columbia is one of 
the most active and flourishing places in the State, delightfully situ- 
ated on the Susquehanna River. It is in the midst of public im- 
provements, radiating in every direction. The Pennsylvania canal 
commences here, following the valley of the Susquehanna to Northum- 
berland, where it branches into two divisions, following respectively 
the north and west branches of that river. Below Northumberland, 
at Duncan's Island, another division, and by far the most important 
one, crosses the Susquehanna, and follows the Juniata to Hollidays- 
burg, situated on the eastern slope of the Alleghany Mountains. 
The Tide Water Canal meets the Pennsylvania Canal at Colum- 
bia, and follows the course of the river to Havre-de-Grace, in 
Maryland, thirty-six miles. The Baltimore Railroad extends to 



C L U JI B I A 



61 



York, -where it unites with the main road from Harrisburo- to 
Baltimore. 

The principal trade pf Columbia is in the descending lumber of the 
' Susquehanna, in which a large amount of capital is invested. Some 
business is done, too, in the coal trade ; but it is comparatively unim- 
portant, confined to the more bituminous qualities for domestic pur- 
poses. One of the richest deposits of iron ore in the United States is 
situated within a few miles of the place, which is also surrounded 
with numerous furnaces and machine-shops, flour and grist mills, &c. 
The longest and most substantial bridge in the State, and probably in 
the Union, stretches across the Susquehanna. Its leno-th is over one 




VIEW OF THE SUSQUEHANNA ABOVE COLUMBIA. 

mile and a quarter, and is adapted both for railway cars and vehicles, 
as well as for towing boats across the river. A short distance above 
Columbia, a bold and extensive ridge of white sandstone emerges from 
the surrounding formation, which, at the Susquehanna, towers several 
hundred feet in rugged, perpendicular clifi-s, entirely overlooking the 
banks of the river below. This description of scenery, however, is 
peculiar to the Susquehanna, and is even wilder some ten miles below. 
About two miles above Columbia is the residence of Prof. Ilaldeman 
6 



62 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



one of the most eminent of American Mineralogists and philosophers 
His residence is eminently worthy a gentleman of fortune and culti- 
vated taste— being, probably, the most stately edifice in this part of 
the country, while its situation is altogether unsurpassed for bold, 
romantic profile, and delightful prospect. The view on page 61 is 
afforded from his spring-house, a slioi-t distance from the dwelling. 
The village of Marietta, one mile distant, is situated on the banks of 
the river. 

Eleven miles from Lancaster is tlie village of Mount Joy, pleas- 
antly situated in the heart of a beautiful agricultural region. Cedar 
Hill Seminary, near this place, is a well-known school for young 
ladies. The place is otherwise without general interest. Elizabeth- 
town, eight miles further, is a village of some sis hundred popula- 
tion. It is a short distance from the railroad, on the turnpike 
between Philadelphia and Pittsburg. Nearly all the villages along 
this once crowded thoroughfare have lost their former interest and 
prosperity, since the diversion of its trade to the lines of railroad and 
canal. After leaving this place, we enter the range of Conewago 
hills, some six miles wide, one of which is tunnelled. A splendid 
bridge crosses the stream a short distance beyond the tunnel, M'hich 




RAILROAD BRIDGE OVER THE CONEWAGO. 



is nearly one hundred feet in height. This structure has just been 
completed, and is one of the most substantial of the kind in the State. 
The entire railroad, indeed, has recently been very much improved, 



^I I D D L E T O W N . 63 

and re-laid with a strong rail. The country between Elizabethtown 
and Middlctown, nine miles, is strewn witli liugc blocks of trap rock, 
which constitute the characteristic feature of the Conewago range. 
Some of these blocks indicate, in their rounded structure, a deposition 
by drift, though it is more probable that they have been detached 
from their beds by tlie slow but powerful erosive agency of floods and 
rains, which, carrying off the smaller detritus associated with them, 
has left them thus isolated and exposed. These rocks are amongst 
the hardest which the varied state of the earth afford, and it is both 
curious and interesting to see them thus scattered over the surface of 
a recent formation, when they themselves belong to the earliest 
epochs of the earth's eventful history. The Susquehanna, no doubt, 
long battled with this range of hills before it was able to secure its 
final passage. Even now its waters are tossed into tremendous 
bounding waves, as they roll over the descending steps of its rocky 
bottom, while the channel is sui'rounded with bold jutting rocks, 
which form a great impediment to its navigation. The descending 
rafts of the Susquehanna pass through these falls with the rapidity 
of a railway train. The fall of the river, within a distance of little 
more than a mile, is probably not less than seventy feet. As the raft 
descends, it plunges, creaks, and bends in every direction — the high 
waves rolling and splashing frightfully — rendering the adventure at 
once exciting, novel, and perilous. "We made the descent, several 
years ago, and can never forget the peculiar agitation of our nervous 
system, as our "long, low" craft made the first plunge into the 
troubled waters ! Gracefully sank down the front platform, and fu- 
riously swept the eager water over our thirsty boards ! That plunge 
over, another and another followed in quick succession. Looking 
round, we were quite bewildered with the real wildness and magni- 
tude of the scene — the white-capped waves sweeping by with tremen- 
dous force, and dashing their empty furies against the sturdy rocks, 
which the men at the oars, with the most desjxrate efforts, were trying 
to avoid. They succeeded, and glancing back, as we were rapidly 
emerging from the scene of danger, a thrill of inexpressible delight 
burst up from our half-smothered " inner man." We shall never for- 
get our passage through the Conewago Falls ; it was a pleasant trip ! 
MiDDLETOWx, situated on the old turnpike, equi-distant from Lan- 
caster and Carlisle, originally derived its name from that circumstance. 
It was " laid out" in 1775, having previously been the site of an In- 



64 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



dian village. The Swatara here empties into the Susquehanna, and 
the Union Canal, elsewhere alluded to as the first improvement of the 
kind ever projected in the United States, unites with that of the 
Pennsylvania Canal. The section between this place and Pine Grove, 
the place of shipment of the coal passing over the work, has lately 
been enlarged so as to carry tonnage equal to the boats of the Penn- 
sylvania Canals. The other section, from that place to Reading, 
where the canal unites with the Schuylkill navigation, is capable of 
floating boats of some thirty tons only. This section will also, no 
doubt, be enlarged, so as to make the tonnage uniform throughout the 
line. Middlctown, as may be inferred from the number of rafts and 
piles of lumber strewn along the mouth of the Swatara, has an exten- 
sive trade in this business, as well as in coal. The place is a large 




VIEW OF MIDDLETOWN. 



and flourishing one — the citizens generally intelligent and enterprising. 
It is the residence of Gen. Simon Cameron, a distinguished statesman 
and financier, who has always commanded a large amount of influence 
in the political movements of the day. Gen. C. has served his native 
State with zeal and ability in the Senate of the United States, and has 
always, indeed, evinced a patriotic devotion to its interests. 



NAVIGATION OF THE SUSQUEHANNA. 65 

Middletown covers a large area, and that part of it which is properly 
so called, is exhibited in the engraving. The village at the mouth of 
the Swatara is locally called Portsmouth being a mere offshoot of the 
larger and older town. 

The first view we obtain of the Susquehanna is near Middletown, 
where it flows smoothly and tranquilly along its pebbled banks. It is 
all along strewn with pleasant islands, most of them overgrown with 
trees and vines, while some of the larger ones are cultivated and in- 
habited by the farmer. Indeed, there are some five or six of the most 
productive farms in Pennsylvania situated in tliis river, two or three 
of which have upwards of two hundred acres each. Most of the 
smaller islands are well adapted to the culture of tobacco, which is 
raised to a large extent. Had the same amount of money appropriated 
to the construction of the canals traversing the valley of this river 
been directly applied to the improvement of its navigation, there can 
he little doubt but that its trade would have been greatly increased. 
The Susquehanna drains over thirteen millions of acres of land, much 
of which is coal and valuable mineral land of different varieties. When 
this immense region is fully occupied and worked, our present canal 
and railway system will prove entirely inadequate to carry off its pro- 
ducts, and we should not be surprised if not many years hence its im- 
provementforsteamboatnavigation was seriously undertaken. And why 
not ? There is really no serious impediment— the fall, upon the whole, 
is not too great to be overcome without dams or locks. Three or four 
millions of dollars, judiciously expended, would render it navigable, be- 
yond doubt, for steamboats of the largest class. The river transports an 
immense, an incalculable amount of debris, all of which mio-ht be 
arrested in its progress, and deposited in such a manner as to form 
long narrow islands, thereby preventing its waters from spreading 
over too wide a surface, and rendering the channel much deeper, 
which, at its lowest stages, is seldom less than five feet. The falls, of 
which there are but five or six difficult ones, might readily be over- 
come without dams or locks. Their irregular rocky steeps could be 
blasted, or the force of the descent impaired by carrying the channel 
in a round-about direction. 

The Susquehanna, between the Conewago hills and the Kittatinny 

Mountain, is crossed by the celebrated Cumberland Valley, sometimes 

called the Kittatinny Valley. This broad and fertile valley enters the 

State in Northampton County, on the Delaware River, and pursuing 

6* I 



66 LOCOIMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

a nearly western course, crosses the Susquehanna, where, diverging 
in a more southerly course, it afterwards enters the State of Mary- 
land — its entire length, in this State, being about sixty miles. The 
counties of Northampton, Lehigh, Berks, Dauphin, Cumberland and 
Franklin, are embraced within its range. It has numerous extensive 
layers of limestone, which, of course, is the principal source of its 
great fertility, while the soil is still much improved by the descending 
vegetable matter of the surrounding mountains. The valley, through- 
out its entire length, is well watered, and inhabited by an industrious 
thriving population. This valley, along the Susquehanna, has at 
some points a broad alluvial margin, which, however, is no less prolific 
for agricultural purposes. This may be observed by the traveller as 
he passes along in the cars^ — the numerous banks of sand and pebbles, 
embracing every variety of river stone, indicating the former flow or 
projecting arms of the river over them. 

Harrisburg, the capital of the State, is one hundred and seven miles 
north-west of Philadelphia, and two hundred and fifty-six miles south 
of Pittsburg. It lies three hundred and ten feet above tide-water. 
This is one of the handsomest towns in the United States, and it is 
deficient in nothing calculated to render it so. It lies on abroad allu- 
vial flat, some twenty feet above the flow of the river, which grace- 
fully winds around its western shores. The river is here again split 
with several beautiful islands, overgrown with a profusion of stately 
trees and rich wild foliage, which are reflected upon its clear un- 
rufliled surface. Two splendid bridges hang over it — one to accommo- 
date the passage of horses and vehicles, the other for the Cumberland 
Valley Railroad, running to Chambersburg, in Franklin County. 
Both these bridges are over a mile in length, and are unsurpassed for 
their strength and architectural proportions. Some eight miles north 
the bold outlines of the Kittatinny Mountain are seen, traversing this 
portion of the State in an east and west direction — leaving abrupt, 
wild, and lofty coves along the Susquehanna. Back of the Kittatinny, 
further north, a succession of other mountains occurs — being the pro- 
jecting spurs of the great anthracite coal formation, which, on ap- 
proaching the Susquehanna, divides into two branches, one called the 
Lykens Valley, the other the Dauphin coal districts. The scenery 
around this place has, therefore, all the softness of a splendid agricul- 
tural valley, teeming with spirited little villages and imposing farm- 
buildings, agreeably contrasted with the soft green aspect of bold and 



n 




HARRISBURG. 69 

lofty mountain ranges, through which the river tamely and serenely 
winds its peaceful way. It was wisely selected for the scat of govern- 
ment of this great commonwealth. The borough contains many beau- 
tiful public and private buildings — the latter, especially, far superior 
to those of most other towns in this State. The population is now 
upwards of eight thousand, having materially increased during the 
last few years. It contains several large iron, cotton and other manu- 
factories, which furnish employment for a large number of operatives, 
of both sexes. The people are very intelligent, and the tone of the 
society is probably unsurpassed. The Legislature, at its annual ses- 
sion, attracts many of the better class of our citizens to the place, 
whose sojourn during the social excitements of the winter doubtless 
contributes much to the polish of the people. The Legislature, itself, 
we regret to say, is often composed of indiiferent material. In select- 
ing representatives, the question with the people too often is, " who 
will accept ?" not "who shall we send ?" Practical and sensible people 
— men of education, talents, and experience, all avoid it. The com- 
pensation is less than they are accustomed to receive — and the honor 
is not sufficiently great to tempt them from their regular pursuits. It 
is thus a difficult matter to get really good men into our Legislative 
sessions. There is no inducement for it ; while there is seldom any 
question or principle of sufficient magnitude to call them forth on 
grounds of personal patriotism. Some years ago, at the outset of our 
splendid internal improvement system, and while the banking and 
educational policy of the commonwealth was still unsettled and in- 
complete, it was far otherwise. At that period some of the brightest 
intellects of the State illumined its Legislative Councils ; men eminent 
for their private worth, their public spirit, and their comprehensive 
talents, constituted the representatives of the people. It was then re- 
garded as an honor to mingle in its deliberations, because they were 
characterized with dignity, masterly eloquence, and practical wisdom. 
Soon after the policy of the State in reference to internal improve- 
ments, banks, education, &c., had been marked out, a striking 
change occurred. The extraordinary interest awakened in these 
subjects, engulphed the State into a sea of political agitation, which 
has never had a parallel in its history. The appropriation of millions 
upon millions of dollars, for the prosecution of the State works, called 
forth thousands of political adventurers, who, like a pack of ravenous 
wolves, pounced upon the tempting feast, their mercenary appetites 



70 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

leaving nothing but the skeleton of their hospitable victim. Like 
leeches, their blood-thirsty appetites became sharper -with the in- 
creasing weakness of the prey ; and they gnawed, like a poisonous 
mineral, at its interior vitality, until the fretful clouds of bankruptcy 
hung over the feeble old Commonwealth, and ghastly Repudiation was 
about to lay its black seal upon her fallen credit ! This was a 
gloomy — gloomy time ! Nor have we yet altogether recovered from 
its paralysing effects. The secret of this unfortunate state of affairs — 
or, rather the reason, for it never was a secret — was simply this : The 
original intention of the friends of an internal improvement system 
contemplated but one main thoroughfare throughout the State, with 
one or two radiating branches. Setting out vigorously with the 
prosecution of this laudable enterprise, the work was shortly over- 
whelmed with difficulties entirely foreign to its own merits. While 
yet unfinished, a large number of branches were proposed, to con- 
struct Avhich millions of dollars were unblushingly asked for. The 
friends of these local branches took common ground — they would vote 
for no more appropriations for the main line, without their proposed 
branches were provided for. The main line, which was already re- 
cognized as a matter of downright necessity, and cheap at any cost, 
was thus saddled with a host of unproductive branches, the construc- 
tion of which only impaired and complicated its own value to the 
State. The State, thus embarrassed, had to borrow an immense 
amount of money, while the objects upon which it was expended 
failed to yield revenue enough to pay even the annual interest. In 
the meantime, many portions of the work were incomplete, and in this 
way, year after year, toillions were squandered without the return of 
a dollar in the shape of profit ! The men employed on the improve- 
ments controlled the elections ; few were elected to office except hun- 
gry political gamesters, and, of course, they had everything their own 
way. The people, attributing most of the evil to the mismanagement 
of the works, and the political influences operating upon the Execu- 
tive, in the appointment of their managers and superintendents, 
stripped him of these functions, and vested their whole charge in a 
board of commissioners, elected by their suffrages. This, however, 
effected little good, for the Canal Board, even now, is probably as cor- 
rupt as the most voracious political gourmand could desire. Elected 
entirely upon political considerations, the commissioners act under 
its influences, and render the works subordinate to its purposes. In- 



PENNSYLVANIA TUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS. 71 

stead of our State works being, as they ought to be, a system of trade 
and commerce, regulated solely with that view, they are a vast system 
of political corruption, poisoning the atmosphere wherever they pene- 
trate. The only effectual way for the people to rid themselves of the 
whole ti'ibe of partizan speculators, is to sell the works to the highest 
bidder, or bestow them on whatever parties will accept. 

The whole length of completed canal, owned by the State, is about seven 
hundred and fifty miles, and of railroad one hundred and twenty miles. The 
following gives the route and cost of the several divisions : 1. The Delaware 
Division extends from Bristol to Easton, at the mouth of the Lehigh, connecting 
with the canal of that company — ascent, one hundred and sixty-four feet ; length, 
sixty miles; cost, $1,374,744. 2, The Eastern Division commences at Columbia, 
(the termination of the State Railroad from Philadelphia, elsewhere noticed,) and 
extends along the eastern bank of the Susquehanna to Duncan's Island, where, 
crossing the river, it connects with the Juniata Division. From this place it 
follows the western bank of the Susquehanna to Northumberland, where the 
river separates into two branches, and the canal into two divisions. The ascent 
from Columbia is one hundred and eighty-two feet ; distance, eighty-two miles ; 
cost, $2,602,832. 3. The North Branch Division extends from this place to the 
Lackawanna, in Luzerne County. Ascent, one hundred and twelve feet; dis- 
tance, seventy-three miles; cost, $1,491,894. This division is to be extended 
from this point to Bradford County, near the State line, so as to connect with 
the Chenaago Canal in New York, and thus afford an outlet for the coal of the 
Lackawanna region. Over $3,000,000 have already been expended on this ex- 
tension, which is now nearly completed, throughout its length, ninety miles, the 
ascent of which is nearly. two hundred feet. 4. The West Branch Division ex- 
tends from Northumberland to Panandsville, in Clinton County, an extensive 
region of bituminous coal. Ascent, one hundred and thirty-eight feet; distance, 
8eventy-five miles ; cost, $1,708,579. There are two small radiating branches in 
this division, one extending to Lewisburg, in Union County, a fertile agricultu- 
ral district, not quite a mile in length ; the other to Lock Haven, in Clinton 
County, nearly four miles in length. 5. The Juniata Division, a portion of the 
main line, and the most important division in the State, commences at Duncan's 
Island and extends to Hollidaysburg, in Blair County, situate at the foot of the 
Alleghany Mountains. Ascent of lockage, five hundred and seventj'-six feet ; 
distance, one hundred and thirty miles ; cost, $3,437,334. 6. The Eastern and 
Western Divisions being here separated by the mountains, a railroad was con- 
structed to connect them with each other. This is called the Portage Road. It 
is thirty-six miles in length, and cost $1,783,176. It ascends and descends the 
mountain with ten inclined planes, five on each side, which are now about to bo 
avoided by a new route of railway already completed. The longest plane is 
throe thousand one hundred and seventeen feet, overcoming an ascent of throe 



72 LOCOMOTIVESKETCHES. 

hundred and eight feet, and the shortest is one thousand four hundred and eighty 
feet in length, with a rise of one hundred and thirty feet. The total elevation 
of the Alleghany summit, on this road, is about twenty -two hundred feet above 
tide-water. 7. This road, extending from Hollidaysburg to Johnstown, in Cam- 
bria County, meets the Western Division of the Pennsylvania Canal, at that 
place. The canal follows the valley of the Conewago and the Kiskiminitas to 
the Alleghany River, which it crosses, and then follows its western bank to 
\ Pittsburgh, where it again crosses, and meets the Monongahela. Descent, four 

hundred and seventy-one feet; distance, one hundred and five miles; cost, 
$2,964,882. 8. The Beaver Division extends up that river from the Ohio to the 
Shenango, and thence six miles beyond New Castle. Ascent, one hundred and 
thirty-two feet; length, thirty-one miles; cost, $756,000. This division, near 
New Castle, meets the Mahoning Canal, extending into the State of Ohio, which 
intersects the Ohio and Erie Canal of that State. 9. This division is a portion 
of a long line, originally intended to connect the Ohio River with Lake Erie, by 
way of Conneaut Lake. The Erie Extension is an unfinished line, divided into 
two branches, the Conneaut and the Shenango, which extends from the latter 
northward to Erie. The ascent from New Castle to Conneaut Lake is two hun- 
dred and eighty-five feet, from which point there is a descent to Lake Erie of 
five hundred and ten feet. The whole length of this extension is one hundred 
and five miles, and over $3,500,000 have been expended. 10. A navigable 
canal, called the French Creek Feeder, extends from Meadville, in Crawford 
County, to the Erie Extension at Conneaut Lake, twenty-seven miles. There is 
a branch from Meadville to the Alleghany River, at Franklin, twenty-two miles 
in length, with a descent of one hundred and twenty-eight feet. The cost of both 
works was nearly $1,000,000. After spending the above amount of money on 
these extensions, the State was finally induced to transfer them, to insure their 
completion, to incorporated companies, reserving to itself the right of controlling, 
to some extent, their policy and management. To the foregoing might be added 
some other lines, proposed or commenced, as the Gettysburg Railway, running 
from that place to the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, in Frederick County, Md. 
This road, after over $700,000 had been expended upon it, was finally abandoned 
as perfectly useless. Lying in an extensive copper region, it may some day be 
found worth while to complete it, inasmuch as the Hanover Branch Railroad, 
connecting with the Pennsylvania Railroad at Columbia, extends within a few 
miles of Gettysburg. Such was the improvement system of Pennsylvania, for 
which a debt of over $40,000,000 has been incurred, and which has probably 
consumed, in losses by freshets and otherwise, in interest of capital invested, and 
in various other ways, of more than one hundred millions of dollars ! Indeed, 
the prime cost of all the improvements constructed by the State, including sub- 
scriptions to turnpikes and bridges, would hardly fall short of this astound- 
ing sum. 



STATE CAPITOL. 



73 




STATE CAPITOL AT HARRISBURG. 



Little more remains to be said of Harrisburg. The capitol stands 
on a handsome sloping elevation, rising in the north-east end of the 
town. It is sufficiently elevated to afford a fine view of the surround- 
ing country, whose peculiar beauties we have already mentioned. The 
capitol grounds are enclosed with an iron-rail fence, and laid out in 
handsome gravel walks, shaded with numerous trees, which are still 
young and in vigorous growth. The main building is one hundred and 
eighty feet in length by eighty feet in width, 
and two stories in heighth. It is a plain 
but substantial brick building, sufficiently 
characteristic of our old commonwealth. A 
large circular portico, faced with six heavy 
stone columns, constitutes the front entrance 
to the building. In the interior is a large 
rotunda, with the high dome overarchin<r, 
from which is entered the Senate Chamber 
on the left, and the Hall of the Representa- 
tives on the right. Both these halls are large 
and neatly furnished — but there is nothing 
extravagant about them. The chair occu- 
pied by the Speaker of the House is the 
identical one used by John Hancock whilst 
President of the Continental Congress, and 
during the consummation of the Declaration 
of Independence. It is a plain, but withal a very elegant chair. 
The wood, if we remember correctly, is black walnut. It is still 
7 K 




JOHN HANCOCK'S CHAIR. 



74 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

in a tolerably good state of preservation, but time and constant 
use are beginning to attack its points. Such is its substantial build, 
however, that it will probably yet outlive a dozen other chairs of more 
modern manufacture. On the second story of this building are apart- 
ments for the State Library, the Canal Commissioners, and the Su- 
preme Court — as well as for Committees of both houses of the Legis- 
lature. The State Library, wo should judge, is in a bad condition, 
Its written catalogues, at least, are in a wretched state, showing neither 
ability of classification, orthography, or decent penmanship. Some 
of the large table-books — especially those of prints — are mutilated 
and soiled, which could entirely be avoided if suitable revolving plat- 
forms were constructed for their accommodation. One of these books, 
containing the series of valuable prints ofBoydell'sShakspeare Gallery, 
cost eight hundred dollars, and if better care is not taken of it, it will 
not be in a condition to be seen in a few years more. This is espe- 
cially important, because the original edition of this great work is 
very rare. Many books, too, are missing — no doubt thousands. 
What has become of them ? 

On both sides of the capitol two other buildings will be noticed, 
much smaller, but somewhat similar in their architectural features. 
That on the right is occupied by the Land Office of the State, and the 
Board of Property. The other, on the left, is occupied by the Treasury 
Office on the first floor, and by the Secretary of State's Office on the 
second floor. The Governor also has an apartment here for the trans- 
action of his official business. Both these buildings are entirely too 
small, as well as miserably arranged and constructed. The truth is, 
the whole establishment reflects little credit upon the State, and we 
should not regret to see it displaced by a larger and more imposing 
edifice. A mansion is now about to be erected for the accommodation 
of the Governor, an appropriation for that purpose having been made 
during the last session of the Legislature. This is a step which should 
long since have been taken ; and to make amends for the delay, the 
building should be one of substantial elegance, corresponding with the 
high functions of the Executive office of the State. Governor Bigler 
is not remarkable for his talents, but he is an honest man, and thus 
far has discharged his high duties with ability and general satisfac- 
tion to the people. We like the broad national ground he maintains 
in his political career, while we admire the energy and persevering 
industry with which he arose from a comparatively humble position 



PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. 75 

in life to one of commanding influence and honor. Not many years 
ago he was editor of an ol)SCurc country paper, having previously 
roguhirly served the usual time as an apprentice to the printing busi- 
ness. Without the assistance of fortune or influential fiimily connec- 
tions, he has fought his way, and triumphed in every progressive step. 
That he fills his present position with the best motives for the general 
good, we have no doubt ; but that he is liable to pursue the wrong, or 
misapprehend the true course in which the general and permanent 
good of the people may best be promoted, is probably the only fear 
which a political opponent maj^ reasonably entertain. His Secretary 
of State is a man of some ability, which is supported by great energy 
of character. His past political history, mainly connected with the 
political movements of the day in Schuylkill county, where he has 
long resided, is by no means above reproach — because it too often ex- 
hibits a mere unscrupulous partizan. He was one of the daring 
spirits who, in 1844, undertook to prove Mr. Polk as good a tariS" man 
as Mr. Clay, and for all practical purposes he was probably the most 
successful man of the tribe. He, however, appeared to have been 
disappointed in Mr. Polk's course, in this respect, and subsequently 
exerted himself to repair the damage which had been done ; but in the 
meantime the people, among whom his statements had obtained cur- 
rency, suff'ered severely the paralyzing efiects of their credulity, and 
bitterly realized the deception under which they had previously la- 
bored. The Secretary of the Commonwealth, in addition to his other 
duties, is also Superintendent of Common Schools. The system of 
education, as now carried out in Pennsylvania, is one of the noblest 
features in the general character of the State — and yet, strangers 
passing through it seldom credit its citizens with the intelligence 
which they really possess. They see a large number of Germans, in 
some parts of the State, and at once set them down as unlettered. 
This is a great mistake. The fault is entirely in their vocal language, 
which is awkward, impure, and inexpressive. An educated youth, 
raised in a community where the leading characteristics of this pecu- 
liar Pennsylvania dialect prevail, will be sure to foil under its influ- 
ence. Being a kind of familiar, every day dialect, every body adopts 
it. It is the most free-and-easy way of conducting business and social 
intercourse. The educated man is thus somewhat crippled in the 
most essential part— ^we?icy. Feeling his utter incapacity to express 
himself effectively, he assumes none of the exterior trappings of learn- 



76 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

ins, but is satisfied with the moderate and occasional use of it, which 
his business and momentous exigencies may require. A stranger, 
therefore, may stumble over a plain, industrious farmer, and be sur- 
prised to find a man of profound learning. The truth is, our growing 
population is very generally educated to a certain extent — that is, the 
essential points comprising a good English education are taught to all, 
with very few exceptions. But the isolated position of a large por- 
tion of our citizens exposes them to the influences of the mixed Ge?- 
man-and-English dialect so peculiar to our agricultural districts, and 
thus the learning they acquire never receives the colloquial JinisJi 
which intercourse with people speaking the English language alone 
would probably give it. Besides, our German population adhere, as 
far as practicable, to books and newspapers printed in their own lan- 
guage ; but most of them can read understandingly English and Ger- 
man alike. 

The present School law was adopted in 1836. It is an improvement 
on those previously existing, all of which flowed from an express pro- 
vision of the constitution, requiring a system of general education 
under the auspices of the State Government. By its provisions, every 
man is required to pay a tax corresponding with his wealth, no matter 
whether he may have children to educate or not. All have to con- 
tribute for the support of government, and to provide for the common 
defence ; so that all may be secure in the blessings of our institutions 
and the possession of the rights of person and property. To promote 
the general welfare — to prevent crime, immorality, and pauperism — 
education is necessary, and therefore it is properly reduced to a sys- 
tem, imder the control and patronage of the government. Thus, the 
State is divided into some fourteen hundred districts, the citizens of 
which may determine by ballot, at stipulated periods, whether schools 
shall' be supported in their midst or not. If they decide in their favor, 
the State contributes a certain amount in their aid — equal to about 
half their actual expenses. The other portion is collected from the 
citizens, according to their estates, to assess which directors are ap- 
pointed, who also superintend the pecuniary and general affairs of the 
school, appoint teachers, &c. If the citizens decide adversely to 
schools, of course no benefit from the School-fund of the State can 
accrue to them. Of the fourteen hundred districts now comprising 
the School system, probably at least twelve hundred have accepted the 
law. The non-accepting districts, for the most part, are those where 



PENNSYLVANIA LUNATIC HOSPITAL. 7< 

the people are all generally in "good circumstances," and prefer edu- 
cating their children under their individual direction. Sometimes a 
district is under the control of rich old bachelors,'or peourious, child- 
less husbands — among -whom, of course, such a law as this stands no 
chance of fav9r ! During the sixteen years that the Common School 
system has been in operation, the people of this State have expended 
nearly sixteen millions of dollars in its support — exclusive of the large 
sums annually paid to sustain the numerous pnvate academies, col- 
leges, and seminaries, which are also giving their valuable aid to the 
cause of general education. The number of schools in the State, 
including Philadelphia, which comprises a separate division of our 
school system, is nearly twelve thousand. In 1836 there were but 
eight hundred and eight ! The pupils now number half a million, and 
the annual cost is nearly one and a half millions of dollars .' It is 
worthy of remark, that the ablest and most eloquent advocate this law 
ever had, either in or out of the Legislature, was Thaddeus Stevens, 
a bachelor ! 

There are several other matters which ought properly to be treated 
of in connection with Harrisburg ; but it is time to pursue our journey, 
and thank fortune we have before us for the remaining two hundred 
and fifty-six miles, one of the smoothest and most substantial roads 
in the United States. So, then, all aboard! 

About two miles from Harrisburg, on the right, is situated aii im- 
posing structure, not yet fully completed, which is exhibited in the 
accompanying figure. This is the Pennsylvania Lunatic Hospital, 
erected by the State, for which fifty thousand dollars were appropri- 
ated. It is placed in the charge of a board of trustees, who act with- 
out compensation. The insane from all parts of the State can be 
received here, at the expense of the counties to which they respec- 
tively belong ; or, if able to pay themselves, at an ordinary cost of 
about $2.50 per week, including board and medical attendance. 
It is thus contemplated to make the institution pay its own ex- 
penses, without becoming a further charge to the State. It has 
accommodations for two hundred and fifty patients, and a farm of one 
hundred and thirty acres of land is attached. The institution was 
thrown open for the reception of patients in October, 1851, and there 
are now probably over one hundred enjoying its treatment. 

The hospital building consists of a centre building, and wings ex- 
tending in a linear direction on each side ; each wing is so arranged 
7* 



78 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 




I'E.XXSYLVANIA LI NATIC IIOSl'ITAL. 



that the second projection recedes twenty feet behind the first, and 
the third the same distance behind the second, so that the second and 
third projections of the wings on each side of the centre building are 
open at both ends, which renders them light and cheerful, and insures 
at all times a free natural ventilation. The centre building is 
of three stories above the basement or ground floor, has a large Tus- 
can portico, with a flight of twenty steps to the main entrance, and is 
surmounted by a large dome, from which a very extensive view of the 
surrounding country is obtained. The hospital is lighted throughout 
with gas brought from the works of the Harrisburg Gas Company. 
In the improvement of the grounds, and the cultivation of the garden, 
it is expected that much assistance will be derived from the patients 
themselves — out-door exercise of this character being part of the 
system of treatment resorted to whenever the patients can be per- 
suaded thus to employ themselves, and generally attended with grati- 
fying results. The institution is open to visitors under certain judi- 
cious restrictions. 

A few miles above the hospital we cross the Susquehanna on one 
of the finest structures in the country, and amidst a scene of unrivalled 
picturesqueness and beauty. The Susquehanna has here forced its 
way through a range of abrupt mountains, which constitute the 
western termination of the great anthracite coal region of Schuylkill 
County. We have already devoted a separate chapter to the conside- 
ration of this wonderful region, touching upon all its leading features, 
and including a description of the processes of mining, &c. We can 



THE COVE. 



81 



only, in tins connection, refer the reader to the article alluded to, 
■which comprises Part II. of " Off-hand Sketches." The coal veins, as 
they approach tlie Susquehanna, are flattened out, while the coal 
itself is soft and of a semi-bituminous character. The region, from 
its proximity to the Susquehanna, is favorably situated ; but th« posi- 
tion of the coal strata is such that mining operations can never be 
prosecuted with much success, or to any great extent. An immense 
amount of money has already been spent in gigantic improvements to 
develop a comparatively small and imperfect coal district. The other 
fork, called the Lykens Valley, is better developed in coal, and the 
strata lie in a position more favorable for mining purposes. A soft 
coal never can he proJUahly mined, because much of it is lost in the 
process of excavation, and much more in the subsequent handling and 
transportation. Having said thus much, we pass on " over the bridge 
and far away." 

The railroad, after crossing the 
bridge, runs some ten miles along 
the narrow bank of the river. Forc- 
ing its way between it and the pro- 
jecting mountain-spurs, it occasion- 
ally exhibits some " tall" specimens 
of side-cutting. This is particularly 
the case at the Cove, ten miles from 
Ilarrisburg. Here the wagon-road 
is forced into a tight place — unable 
to pass below, it ascends aljout 
eighty feet above the railroad, and 
winds around the frowning precipice 
in abject obedience to the " inevita- 
ble force of circumstances." The railroad, too, where it runs directly 
alongside the Susquehanna, is elevated from fifteen to twenty-five feet 
above it, and is protected from the ice and water freshets to which the 
river is subject, by strong stone embankments, sloping to the water's 
edge. Like all other mountain-streams, the Susquehanna is particu- 
larly known for its propensity to get "high." At such times it foams 
and rages terribly, though few would suspect it from its usual gentle- 
ness and docility. In the spring, when the snow melts, the swollen 
stream breaks up the lazy ice, which, charged with sand and pebble, 
and fragments of trees and timber, descends in huge masses. At 




THE COVH. 



82 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

some points below, the river becomes very narrow and correspondinjjly 
deep, being hemmed in by high walls of rock on both sides. The ice 
here frequently dams up, throwing back the water with its floating 
fields of ice, while these, rubbing against each other in fierce conflict, 
create other dams ; and thus the river, for many miles, is often com- 
pletely and emphatically dam'd ! The water and ice, thus savagely 
arrayed against each other, adjourn their " muss" to the adjacent vil- 
lages along the shores, where, seizing piles of lumber, boats, trees, 
small houses and stables, they bear them along, and finally dash them 
to pieces over some old villain of a rock. Sometimes they vent their 
furies upon the unoffending railroad, canals, and bridges ; and it was 
thus that the noble structures at Clark's Ferry, above, and at Harris- 
burg, Columbia, and McCalls' Ferry, below, were at different times 
carried away or materially injured. The railroad here, however, is 
pretty safe ; and so, too, is the bridge. The river is unquestionably 
becoming tamer every year, and by the time the Maine Law is put in 
force in this State, the Susquehanna will probably cease to "get 
high" altogether ! 

In the fall of the year the traveller will notice all along the Susque- 
hanna, as well as the Juniata, the Lehigh, and other streams, a con- 
trivance for catching fish, called a fish-basket, which is exhibited in 
the annexed figure. The thing, as will be seen, is very simple ; but 
it plays "hob" among the cat-fish and eels, and perch, and other 
natives of these rivers. A stonewall is built in the stream (which, in 
the fall, outside of the channel, is usually not more than three feet 
deep) in the manner indicated in the engraving. At the neck of these 
walls, a wooden structure is placed, one end sunk under the water, 
and the other gradually rising some six feet above it, supported by 
strong wooden props. Upon this are placed five or six lath platforms, 
about four feet square, one projecting over the other. The lath are 
nearly an inch in width, and fixed half an inch apart, so as to allow 
the descending water to pass through. The fish, as they come idling 
down the stream, in friendly social glee with each other, suddenly 
fall over the platform of lath, and, no doubt much to their surprise, 
find themselves unable to swim back. They, however, appear to have 
a merry time of it, kicking and frisking around amongst each other, 
while new customers are constantly rolling in. Occasionally an old 
sucker is " sucked in," and makes a tremendous floundering among 
the assemblage, huddled together like democrats at a county meeting. 



T)V NC ANNON 



88 




A FISH-BASKET IN THE SUSQUEHANNA. 



But the day breaks forth through the foggy vapor, and the drowsy 
fisherman, emerging from his bed of straw in the cabin, begins 
leisurely to haul them up. They are all consigned to a large slimy 
bag ; and thus ends the whole process, which, unhappily, forever seals 
the fate of the fish. 

A few miles above the Cove Mountain is the village of Duncannon-, 
well known in connection with its iron manufactures. Some twelve 
miles from this place are situated the Perry Warm Springs, with 
which there is a mail-stage connection. We know nothing of the 
merits of the spring, but we do know the proprietor, and cannot too 
warmly commend him to the notice of our rambling friends. 

The iron works have lately been much enlarged, and include ex- 
tensive rolling-mills, nail factories, and machine-shops, with a large 
furnace establishment a mile or two distant. There are upwards of 
two hundred persons employed in these establishments. The village 
stretches along the Susquehanna until it meets that of Petersburg, 
from which it is separated by the Little Juniata. Both these villages 
are pleasantly situated, both in respect to trade and surrounding 
scenery. A few miles above, Duncan's Island bridge stretches over 



84 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

the broad river, and the canal, as already noted, forms two divisions 
— one continuing along the Susquehanna, the other following the 
Juniata. Fourteen miles beyond Duncan's Island, on the Susque- 
hanna, is Liverpool, remarkable for the wild and picturesque beauty 
of its scenery, a tolerable specimen of whose general aspect is afforded 
at this and intermediate points. While nature has all along this river 
evidently done her utmost to give " enchantment to the view," man 
has mingled with it some of the noblest works of his enterprise and 
genius. 

Having travelled some thirty miles along the Susquehanna, wc 
obtain our last view of it near Duncan's Island, where the railroad 
gracefully leaves it, and follows the bright, the blue, the wild Juniata. 
Flowing, in one broad sheet, to the Conewago hills, it opened splen- 
didly to our view, and only doubled its attractions as we rolled along 
the green banks and the soaring spurs of the Kittatinny ; but here, 
nestled amongst a troop of mountain peaks and rocky cliffs, with a 
belt of green fields stretching to the Tuscarora, it fades serenely, but 
gloriously, in our departing gaze. The county we are now in, we 
should have mentioned before, is Perry, which lies between the Kitr 
tatinny and the Tuscarora Mountains. Entering this county from 
Franklin, adjoining it on the south-west, where the Tuscarora is 
known as Cove Mountain, while the Kittatinny is cut up into detached 
knobs, they keep close together for some distance, but finally separate 
and get far apart — the distance between them, at the Susquehanna, 
being at least twenty miles. Between these mountain ranges the 
prevailing scenery is that of a rich and thrifty farming district — agree- 
ably diversified with an occasional sprightly village, a view of the 
tortuous river and canal, and the usual " thousand and one" concomi- 
tants of a wild, sloping, and beautiful valley. The land is well sup- 
.plied with beds of limestone and iron ore, as well as numerous streams 
of water, calculated to furnish driving power for nearly every de- 
scription of useful manufacture. It was long the abode of Indians, 
who perpetrated upon the early white settlers some of the bloodiest 
tragedies to be met in their eventful history. Duncan's Island, in the 
Susquehanna, was their favorite retreat — their summer resort ; and in 
passing to and fro the valley resounded their frightful yells, and 
drank up the blood of their savage tomahawks. The early settlers 
consisted of Irish and Scotch Presbyterians, with a few English Qua- 
kers ; the population now, however, is principally composed of Ger- 



MILLERSTOWN. 



85 



mans, who are invariably found wherever there is a good soil, and 
their patient industry and frugal habits always enable them to sup- 
plant every other class of people. 

At Newport, which is twenty-seven miles from Harrisburg, the 
Juniata makes a sharp curvature, apparently for the express purpose 
of meeting a little stream, called Buffalo Creek, which it gallantly 
carries off in its course. This ridiculous curve of the Juniata's put 
the railroad company to a considerable expense in constructing two 
elegant and substantial bridges over it, both of which would have 
been unnecessary had the stream kept in its straightforward course. 
We hate foolishness ! 

A short distance above Newport, which is a small village, two or 
three hundred yards from the railroad, the canal is transferred to the 
opposite side of the river. The water is deepened by a dam, and the 
boats towed over by a rope, in an ingenious manner. The rope, 




MIl.I.intSTnWX, ON THE Jl'NIATA. 

winding around a wheel on each side of the river, is made to travel 
to and fro by water-power supplied by the canal. The boats are at- 
tached to this rope, and are thus towed over. 

MiLLERSTOWN, One hundred and forty miles from Philadelphia, 
8 



86 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



two hundred and twenty-three from Pittsburg, and thirty-two from 
Harrisburg, though a small village, is still the largest one in Perry 
County, containing a population of about five hundred. It is beau- 
tifully situated, and contains several well-built, spacious, and neat 
dwellings — but it looks best when seen at a " respectful" distance. 
The inhabitants are mostly German, and live as Germans do — quietly, 
decently, soberly — never flame out with sign-boards and gim-cracks 
over their stores and shops — never bustle about with quills stuck 
above their ears — never drive "fast" horses, or give wrong change — 
never have meals cooked in a hurry — never serve ham and eggs with- 
out placing around them, in a little circle, dishes of apple-butter, 
molasses, fruit, preserves, &c. ; in briefj they live coldly, and accumu- 
late wealth prudently, and "further this deponent saith not." 




TUSCAROBA STATION. 



The railroad, a short distance above, enters the Tuscarora Mountain, 
and runs along its northern slope for many miles. The country, or 
certain portions of it, is not so well developed in fertility as it is 
below — but a glimpse is now and then obtained of a good farm, 
sloping to the river from the mountain sides. The gorge of the 
mountain passed, we enter the county of Juniata, which lies wholly 
between the Tuscarora and Shade Mountains, running in nearly 
parallel order, and only a few miles apart. The county is thus about 
five times as long as it is broad — but situated as it is, the land is, upon 
the whole, rather productive. Like Perry, it has its seams of iron 
ore and limestone, and its furnaces have long enjoyed good reputation 
for the quality of the metal they produce. Tuscarora Creek runs along 
the mountain of that name, and empties into the Juniata near Mifflin, 



MIPTLIN 



87 




MIFFLIN. 



which is the seat of justice, as well as the most populous town in the 
county. It is delightfully situated, like most other towns along the 
Juniata, on a sloping eminence, from which a view of the surrounding 
scenery is afforded. The canal passes under the bridge represented 
in the engraving, and has, of course, materially increased the trade 
of the town. Several little villages on the Juniata, between this 
place and Millerstown, are merely depots for the storage and shipment 
of the produce of the surrounding country, as Thompsontown, Mexico, 
Perryville, &c. 

Opposite Mifflin the railroad company has erected several large build- 
ings, including the hotel here exhibited, which is, in our opinion, one of 
the finest establishments of the kind in the United States, at the same 
time that it is extremely plain in its internal structure, and cost, com- 
paratively, a trifling amount of money. Several brick hotels along this 
road, of about the same dimensions, but constructed by private capital, 
cost at least twice as much as this house, while they are palpably 
inferior to it in architectural beauty, convenience of arrangement, and 
general completeness of design and appearance. The truth is, nothing 



88 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 




TaE PATTERSON HOUSE, ON THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. 



has been more neglected in this part of the country, and generally 
speaking, throughout the entire State, than the subject of archi- 
tecture. It is not known or recognized as an art at all ; and the 
natural result is, the houses and buildings of every description are 
dull, stupid, and monotonous — destitute alike of real convenience, of 
harmonious proportion, and of true economic principle. They are 
totally unrelieved by a single meritorious feature, beyond the imme- 
diate one of protection from the elements. Ventillation — good taste — 
in short, everything is sacrificed to produce buildings as ridiculous 
and clumsy in appearance as they are uncomfortable for practical 
use. Good barns, it is true, are often seen ; but even these are all 
constructed after the same antiquated plan — not one of them deviating 
so far as to exhibit a neat projecting border to relieve the blankness 
of the roof or gable-ends ; nor is there any other ornament calculated 
to produce a sprightly eJBTect to a building otherwise highly creditable. 
The railroad company, in the construction of all its numerous 
buildings, has given a practical exposition of the laws of good taste 
and architecture, as founded on economical principles. There is not 



THE PATTERSON HOUSE 



89 



one of its buildings, even the little watering-stations, that docs not 
rise far superior, in the spirit of the design, to any other on the route. 
And the force of our remarks -will be appreciated when the above 
hotel is compared with other establishments characteristic of the 
country. It was erected with direct reference to the taste, comfort, 
and entertainment of the traveller — points which are too often over- 
looked by railway companies, when constructing their lines of im- 
provement. They too often suppose that nothing more is expected 
of them beyond the mere transportation of the " flesh and blood," 
with the accompanying bag and baggage. No matter what inconve- 
niences the weary traveller may be exposed to, it is no affair of theirs 
— it is not " found in the bond." This, however, is not the spirit that 
actuates the Pennsylvania Railroad Company. The Patterson House 
— named in compliment of a former President — is one that will tempt 
the traveller from the fatigues of his journey, and, being tempted, 
will obtain a hold upon the affections of the " in'ard man." The 
table is sumptuous — the dining-room cool and spacious — the servants 
black as charcoal, and polite as a Pennsylvania sun can make 'em. 
The proprietor, whoever he is, is evidently a learned man in his use- 
ful profession, and seems to act upon the lines of old Goldsmith 

Whoe'er has travelled life's dull round — 
Where'er his journejings may have been — 

Must sigh to think he still hath found, 
The warmeet icclcome at an inn ! 

This hotel is 156 miles from Philadelphia and 207 from Pittsburg. 
It is elevated 430 feet above tide-water, while the altitude of the sur- 
rounding mountains will average about 700 feet. 




ENGINE-HOUSE AND WOKKSHOrS. 



In the rear of the Patterson House are situated the workshops and 
engine-house of the railroad, for the eastern section. The buildino-s 
8* M 



90 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

are of brick, put up in the most substantial manner, with due regard 
to ornament. Whatever repairs of the running machinery of the 
road may be necessary, from time to time, will be attended to here. 

Leaving this place, the railroad runs in a perfectly straight course 
to the north-western boundary of the county, where it enters that of 
Mifflin amidst the wildest and most beautiful scenery which the eye 
of man could desire. Passing through a narrow gorge, we have what 
is locally termed the Black-log Mountain on the left, and Shade Moun- 
tain on the right. Along the summits of both these mountains are 
huge rocky promontories, black and dismal, and broken into irregular 
peaks, with sharp intervening fissures and valleys of denudation. 
From these overhanging rocks immense avalanches have, from time 
to time, been detached, and precipitated in frightful confusion along 
the mountain sides, which are also very steep. These stones have no 
soil associated with them, but lying one on top of the other, they pre- 
sent a loose mass, apparently on the verge of sliding still further 
down. The whole stony assemblage is thus held in statu quo by some 
faithful tree or deeply-set rock. The amount of these detached rocks 
is altogether inconceivable — the mountains are literally covered with 
them, from top to bottom. Covered with moss, and of a dark and 
sombrous color, they give to the scene a stamp of positive wildness, 
the beauty of which is increased by the overhanging foliage, sloping 
to the rugged banks of the Juniata, which leaps over its rocky bed 
as if bewildered with the scene around. There are many other scenes 
in our mountain ranges similar to this ; but there is none, in this 
broad continent, which surpasses it in picturesque outline. It is one 
of those things, too, that must be seen leisurely to be fully compre- 
hended and enjoyed. The means by which these immense bodies of 
stone became detached, are perfectly plain — but are still none the 
less worthy our contemplation. Some may suppose that the moun- 
tains are occasionally seized with the ague, which sometimes prevails 
along the Juniata in the fall of the year ; and shaking and trembling 
violently under its sickening spells, the rocks may thus have been 
detached and tumbled down from their lofty beds ! But we are pretty 
sure the ague had nothing to do with it, and simply because those 
who are acclimated to the Juniata are not liable to take it ; and of 
course mountains have resided in "these parts" long enough to be 
perfectly exempt from such ailments. No ; the element which has 
been at work here, and sundry other places where similar effects are 



MIFFLIN COUNTY. 91 

exhibited, is a simple but powerful one. It has evidently been busy 
throughout a vast space of time ; nor has it abandoned its occupation. 
It is water. The Juniata, with the eccentric boldness which has al- 
ways characterized it, commenced a violent onslaught to get through 
the mountains. Swelling indignantly at the obstacle before it, it 
finally broke through, in a wild resistless torrent, tearing the moun- 
tain savagely as it passed along. This splendid ti'iumpli achieved, 
it proceeded leisurely to clear out its course — one by one the rocks 
were split and hurled from their ancient positions, and gradually the 
incision in the mountain increased, until it reached its present level. 
In the meantime the waters of the river returned, time after time. 
Picked up by the wandering clouds, they rode back in swift-travelling 
gales, and again and again pounced upon the devoted mountains. 
First removing their coats of clay and sand, they seize a pebble here 
and another there, and roll them against some projecting rock. What 
can't be done in the regular way, must be accomplished by stratagem 
— therefore water enters into the state of snow and ice, and catching 
the loose particles laying on the surface, holds them in its freezing 
grasp, and carries them along when it resumes its annual spring 
campaign. By this means a gradual decomposition of rocks is pro- 
duced, and sometimes the thawed earth lets loose immense avalanches. 
Thus, the substance of the mountains is daily diminishing, and water 
is the active agent that has charge of the whole business of transpor- 
tation. AVater, therefore, has been the leading and only agent in 
affecting the degradation of our mountain system ; and to what ex- 
tent its operations are still continued, may be estimated at every 
valley which receives the descending debris. Opposite Spruce Creek 
an example is afforded of the degrading effects of a single torrent. 
A deep incision is made in the side of the mountain — the surface 
scooped out all the way down, in some places to the depth of twenty 
feet or more. It will grow larger and deeper with every rain that 
falls, until, finally, the rocks of the mountain protrude, and detach 
themselves in the same frightful manner as in the Long Narrows, 
above described. 

Mifiiin County, of which Lewistown is the judicial scat, lies 
between two prominent mountain ranges, which run in a south-west 
and north-east direction. The southern boundary we have just 
passed in the long Narrows separating Black-log and Shade Moun- 
tains ; the northern line runs between Jack's and Stone Mountains, 



92 Coco MOTIVE SKETCHES. 

adjoining Huntingdon and Centre, and meeting Union in the east. 
At this place the Juniata makes a sharp curvature to the south-west, 
passing through the greater portion of the county, when, making an- 
other sudden curve near Newton Hamilton, twenty-three miles distant, 
it cuts through Jack's Mountain, and again strikes to the north. Had 
the little thing only broke through the mountain, in a straight line 
between Petersburg and Lewistown, it would have saved more than 




LEWISTOWN STATION, 



half the distance it now travels. The Kishacoquillas, a large and 
beautiful stream, rising in the mountains north-east of Lewistown, 
joins the Juniata as it winds along the eastern slope of that borough. 
It furnishes a splendid water-power, which is extensively applied at 
various points on the route — at Lewistown constituting the driving 
power of two large and handsome flouring mills, the only branch of 
manufacture, we believe, which the town affords. This is surprising. 
Viewed from the railroad, Lewistown has the appearance of a large 
and busy place ; but it is not. The town is composed, for the most 
part, of inferior buildings, while the population (embracing about 
twenty-eight hundred) appear to be idle and without enterprise. The 
situation of the town is, in every respect, advantageous and pleasant. 
The entire county is one broad fertile valley, with rolling ridges divid- 
ing it into numerous subordinate ones, many of which contain a 
plentiful supply of iron ore and limestone, while the Juniata and its 
numerous tributaries supply any quantity of water-power at the same 
time that they thoroughly drain the land. It has all the natural 
beauty and many of the prominent outline features which have given 
such poetic and undying celebrity to Wyoming ; but its citizens lack 
the spirit and stamina so characteristic of the people of that region 



L E W I S T "\V N 



93 




1)i;ki* clt sear lewistown. 



throughout its extraordinary and romantic history. If the same kind 
of Connecticut Yankees had originally settled along the Juniata, or 
if they Avere induced to do so now, it would soon wear a different as- 
pect. Their industry and practical enterprise would soon blaze forth 
in spirited rays, and the whole valley would resound with the clatter 
of machinery — the thunders of the hammer — the blaze of the furnace 
— the rattle of the loom. 

Lewistown might become a more important place, even as a summer 
resort. Considered in this respect, it combines every requisite advan- 
tage, and all that is wanted is one or two spacious hotels, showy and 
well-conducted. There are two or three respectable inns in the centre 
of the town, but these are too much exposed to gossipping loafers to- 
merit any considerable patronage from summer tourists. The hotels 
for the accommodation of travellers should be located nearer the rail- 
road. A citizen of Lewistown, in a letter published some years ago, 
in one of the borough papers, says : " The scenery is the finest in the 
world ; wc breathe the pure mountain air. Our clear streams abound 
with fish, particularly trout. Our forests are filled with game of every 
description; and Milliken's Spring, on a farm adjoining the town,. Is 



94 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 




LEWISTOWN. 



ascertained to possess all the medicinal qualities of the Bedford 
water, particularly in bilious complaints." 

The celebrated Indian Chief, Logan, lived in this part of the valley 
when the whites first arrived. His cabin was near the wild gorge in 
Jack's mountain, and the history of the county of which this was for- 
merly a part, is full of anecdotes relating to him. Logan was proba- 
bly the most eloquent Indian orator of which we have any account. 
He was the Clay of the Indian people ; and in natural dignity, inde- 
pendence of spirit, and loftiness of purpose, few whites have sur- 
passed him. 

Near the village of Reedville, about six miles from Lewistown, is 
a beautiful spring, near which the orator often dwelt. The following 
anecdote, related by the late Judge Brown, one of the earliest settlers, 
is connected with this spot : 

" The first time I ever saw that spring," said the old gentleman, 
"my brother, James Reed, and myself, had wandered out of the valley 
in search of land, and finding it very good, we were looking about for 
About a mile from this we started a bear, and separated to 
I was travelling along, looking about on the rising 



es. 



spnn 

get a shot at him 



LOGAN, THE INDIAN CHIEF 



95 










xOv 




LOGAN, TUE INDIAN CHIEF. 

ground for the bear, Avhon I camo suddenly upon the spring ; and be- 
ing dry, and more rejoiced to find so fine a spring than to have killed 
a dozen bears, I set my rifle against a bush, and rushed down the 
bank and laid down to drink. Upon putting my head down, I saw 
reflected in the water, on the opposite side, the shadow of a tall 
Indian. I sprang to my rifle, when the Indian gave a yell, whether 
for peace or war I was not just then sufficiently master of my faculties 
to determine ; but upon my seizing my rifle and facing him, he 
knocked up the pan of his gun, threw out the priming, and extended his 
open palm toward me in token of friendship. After putting down our 
guns, we again met at the spring, and shook hands. This was Logan, 
the best specimen of humanity I ever met with, either xchite or red. 
He could speak a little English, and told me there was another white 
hunter a little way down the stream, and offered to guide me to his 



96 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

camp. There I first met your father. We remained together in the 
valley a week, looking for springs and selecting lands, and laid the 
foundation of a friendship which never has had the slightest inter- 
ruption. 

" We visited Logan at his camp, at Logan's Spring, and your father 
and he shot at a mark for a dollar a shot. Logan lost four or five 
rounds, and acknowledged himself beaten. When we were about to 
leave him, he went into his hut, and brought out as many deer-skins 
as he had lost dollars, and handed them to Mr. Maclay, who refused 
to take them, alleging that we had been his guests, and did not come 
to rob him — that the shooting had been only a trial of skill, and the 
bet merely nominal. Logan drew himself up with great dignity, and 
said, ' Me bet to make you shoot your best — me gentleman, and me 
take your dollar if me beat.' So he was obliged to take the skins or 
affront our friend, whose nice sense of honor would not permit him to 
receive even a horn of powder in return." 

Logan was one of the most successful hunters ever known among 
the Indians, and supported his family entirely by killing deer, dress- 
sing the skins and selling them to the whites. He once sold a large 
lot to a tailor, of the name of De Young, living somewhere in Fergu- 
son's Valley — tailors, in those days, dealed extensively in buckskin 
breeches. Logan received his pay, according to agreement, in wheat. 
The wheat, however, on being taken to the mill, was found so worth- 
less that the miller refused to grind it. Logan was much chagrined, 
and attempted in vain to obtain redress from the tailor. He then 
took the matter before his friend Brown, who was a magistrate ; and 
on the judge's questioning him as to the character of the wheat, and 
what was in it, Logan sought in vain to find words to express the 
precise nature of the article with which the wheat was adulterated, 
but said that it resembled in appearance the wheat itself. " It must 
have been cheat," said the judge. " Yoh !" said Logan, " that very 
good name for him." A decision was awarded in Logan's favor, and 
a writ given to Logan to hand to the constable, which he was told 
would bring him the money for his skins. But the untutored Indian — 
too uncivilized to be dishonest — could not comprehend by what magic 
this little paper would force the tailor against his will to pay for the 
skins. The judge took down his own commission, with the arms of 
the king upon it, and explained to him the first principles and opera- 
tions of civil law. " Law good," said Logan ; " make rogues pay." 



HISTORYOFLOGAN. 97 

But how much more simple and efficient was the law which the 
Great Spirit had impressed upon his heart — to do as he would be 
done by! 

Lo the poor Indian, whose untutored mind 
Sees God in clouds, or hears him in the wind ! 
His soul proud science ne'er taught to stray 
Far as the solar walk or milky way — . 
Yet simple nature to his hope hath given 
Beyond the cloud-capped hills an humble heaven — 
And thinks, admitted to that equal sky, 
His foithful dog will bear him company ! 

Mr, Jefferson, in his Notes on Virginia, gives the following incident 
in the history of Logan, after leaving the Juniata : 

In the spring of 1?74, a robbery and murder were committed on an inhabitant 
of the frontiers of Virginia, by two Indians of the Shawnee tribe. The neigh- 
boring whites, according to their custom, undertook to punish this outrage in a 
summary manner. Colonel Cresap, a man infamous for the many murders he 
had committed on those much injured people, collected a party and proceeded 
down the Kanaway in quest of vengeance ; unfortunately, a canoe with women 
and children, and one man only, was seen coming from the opposite shore un- 
armed, and unsuspecting an attack from the whites. Cresap and his party con- 
cealed themselves on the bank of the river, and the moment the canoe reached 
the shore, singled out their objects, and at one fire killed every person in it 
This happened to be die family of Logan, who had long been distinguished as a 
friend to the whites. This unworthy return provoked his vengeance ; he accor- 
dingly signalized himself in the war which ensued. In the autumn of the same 
year a decisive battle was fought at the mouth of the great Kanaway, in which 
the collected forces of the Shawnees, Mingoes, and Delawares were defeated by 
a detachment of the Virginia militia. The Indians sued for peace. Logan, 
however, disdained to be seen among the suppliants ; but lest the sincerity of a 
treaty should be disturbed, from which so distinguished a chief abstracted him- 
self, ho sent, by a messenger, the following speech to be delivered to Lord 
Dunmore : 

'' I appeal to any white man if ever ho entered Logan's cabin hungrj-, and he 
gave him not to eat; if ever he came cold, and he clothed him not. During the 
course of the last long and bloody war Logan remained idle in his cabin, an 
.advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen 
pointed as they passed, and said, Logan is the friend of the white man. I have 
even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel 
Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, murdered all the relations of Logan, even 
my women and children. 

" There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature ; this 
called on me for revenge. I have fought for it. I have killed many. I have 
9 N 



98 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



fully glutted my vengeance. For my country I rejoice at the beams of peace : 
but do not harbor a thought that mine is the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear. 
He will not turn on his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Logan? 
Not one !" 

Such was the great Indian orator who once frequented these lofty 
mountains and rich rolling valleys. Such was the son of the great 
Cayuga Chief — Logan. The Juniata was the favorite retreat of the 
Indian, and no wonder ! If it is wild and beautiful now, what must 
it have been in its primitive glory — when the Indian alone " was mon- 
arch of all he surveyed !" — when he pursued the roving deer amidst the 
solitude of the deep forest, or skimmed the blue waters of the stream 
in his light canoe ! Apro])os, a favorite song : 




BIUGIIT AI.FAUATA OF THE BLUE .TUXIATA. 

Wild roved an Indian girl, 

Bright Alfarata, 
Where sweep the waters 

Of the blue Juniata! 



M ' V E Y T O W N — N E W T N HAMILTON. 99 

Swift as an antelope 
Through the forest going, 
Loose were her jetty locks 
In wavy tresses flowing. 

Gay was the mountain song 

Of bright Alfarata — 
Where sweep the waters 

Of the blue Juniata. 
Strong and true my arrows are. 
In my painted quiver — 
Swift goes my light canoe, 
A-down the rapid river. 

Bold is my warrior good, 

Tjje love of Alfarata, 
Proud waves his snowy plume 

Along the Juniata. 
Soft and low he speaks to me, 
And then his war-cry sounding, 
Rings his voice in thunder loud 
From height to height resounding. 

So sang the Indian girl, 

Bright Alfarata, 
Whero sweep the waters 

Of the blue Juniata. 
Fleeting years have borne away 
The voice of Alfarata, 
Still sweeps the river on 

Blue Juniata. 

Twelve miles above Lewistovrn, on the Juniata, and nearly- equi- 
distant from Philadelphia and Pittsburg, is McVeytown, a handsome 
little village, doing some business on the canal. Hanawalt's Cave is 
near here, and has some interest. It often contains saltpetre, in a 
crude state, and numerous stalactitic curiosities peculiar to limestone 
formations. Ten miles further is Newton Hamiltox, another pleas- 
ant yillage, principally engaged in the trade of the canal. The great 
fertility and productiveness of this portion of the country renders this 
trade by no means insignificant — though much of it Avill ultimately 
be attracted to the railroad during that portion of the year -when the 
canal is closed. An enormous quantity of pig iron, flour, grain, 



100 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES, 



pickled meat and butter, &c., is forwarded from these places in the 
summer, the stock accumulating during the winter. A heavy capital 




RAILROAD A\D CANAL. 



is thus inactive for several months, and the advantage of having a 
railroad, by which a favorable condition of the market may speedily 
be embraced, is of the highest importance. A much larger business 
may, in this way, be done with one-fourth the capital, which, together 
witli the saving of time, will more than compensate the trifling differ- 
ence, if any, in the cost of transportation. 

At this place, winding around the gorge of Jack's Mountain, the 
Juniata follows the boundary line for a few miles, and then enters 
Huntingdon in a direction nearly north. We are now emphatically 
and unmistakably in the midst of mountains — bold, rugged, thunder- 
ing mountains ! — the most of which have a range nearly north and 
south, and cross the straight line of our course. No matter — we will 
pass 'em, and even mount their lofty summits. In Bedford County, 
which adjoins on the east, there are no less than twelve mountains, 
including those of the great Alleghany on the west, and Cove on the 
east, which constitutes its western and eastern boundaries. These 



HUNTINGDON. 



101 



mountains are each known by various local names, and are more or 
less broken and disrupted as they enter Huntingdon and Blair in the 
north. The celebrated Broad Top Mountain coal district lies in Bed- 
ford, some fifteen miles or more south of the village of Newton Ham- 
ilton. This splendid coal district is entirely isolated from the great 
Alleghany region, with which it was originally connected. The coal, 
too, is of a better quality, being semi-bituminous in character, and 
similar to that of the Dauphin coal field, as it approaches the Susque- 
hanna. Being the only spot in a wide expanse of territory where 
coal is to be had at all, it must be regarded as of great value, and 
arrangements are now being made to extend a railroad so as to con- 
nect it with the lines of improvement on the Juniata. The isolated 
position of this coal mountain, with other connecting circumstances, 
go to prove that our anthracite and bituminous beds formed originally 
one entire and almost complete assemblage, and that they are both of 
cotemporaneous formation. The mountain ranges are higher and 




HUNTINGDON, ON THE JUNIATA. 



bolder toward the south-west, where the coal strata are prolonged ; 
while toward the east they have been cut down and detached, and the 
coal washed away, leaving only a comparatively small amount behind, 

9* 



102 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

and that lying in a position low down, with the stratification generally 
in a semi-vertical dip. The whole Apalachian chain may, therefore, 
te regarded as one immense coal-bearing system — but such have been 
the destructive effects of time, during the countless millions of years 
it has been exposed, that a very small portion of the original amount 
of vegetable matter, constituting the coal measures, is now left be- 
hind. 

Passing the unimportant stations of Mount Union, Mapleton, and 
Mill Creek, we reach the borough of Huntingdon, two hundred and 
four miles from Philadelphia, one hundred and fifty-nine miles from 
Pittsburg, and ninety-seven miles from Harrisburg. This borough is 
elevated six hundred and ten feet above tide-water, while the average 
height of the mountains is about the same. The borough of Hunting- 
don is the seat of justice of the county of that name, which formerly 
included the adjoining one of Blair, and was laid out in 1770 by Dr. 
Smith, Provost of the University of Pennsylvania. The name was 
bestowed in compliment to the Countess of Huntingdon, who was a 
liberal contributor to the funds of that institution. The present 
population of the borough, we should judge, is about eighteen hun- 
dred, or more, and is now rapidly increasing under the stimulus of 
recent and forthcoming important public improvements. The popu- 
lation, too, is very intelligent, and embraces many wealthy families. 

The situation of this place, as may be inferred from the sketch of 
it, is extremely pleasant. Some of the wildest scenery in the State 
may be found a few miles adjacent — among which may be mentioned 
the celebrated Pulpit Rocks, on Warrior Ridge, a view of which, from 
the turnpike, is afforded in the annexed figure, extracted from the 
work of Mr. Trego, on the Geography of Pennsylvania. The rocks 
appear equally bold from the railroad, which passes directly along 
the base of the ridge. These rocks are a coarse-grained cemented 
sandstone, varying in color, but generally of a yellowish-white, with 
particles of bright flint. They have attained their present curious 
appearance from the gradual effects of the atmosphere and rain, 
which, working out irregular fissures, have thus left standing lofty 
columns, that frown from their high summits upon the no less rugged 
and narrow valley below. The mountains of this county are nearly 
all cut up into bold sharp ridges similar to the above — though it is 
otherwise one of the most mountainous in the State. Jack's moun- 
tain presents a continuous range on the east, and Tussey's on the 



HUNTINGDON COUNTY 



lOi 




PULPIT ROCKS OX WAUUIOK laDCii:. 



■west ; but the others are detached knobs and ridges, which, at one 
time, probably constituted an unbroken elevation. This broken and 
disruptured character of the county has been occasioned solely by 
water, and to substantiate this belief, vre need only lo point to its 
numerous streams, comprising the head waters of the Juniata. Thus, 
rising in Bedford County, and emptying into the Juniata a few miles 
from Huntingdon, is the snake-like Raystown Branch ; rising in 
Blair, and traversing the middle of that county, is the Frankstown 
Branch, emptying into the Juniata near Alexandria ; rising in the same 
county, further north, is the Little Juniata, which, at the place above 
named, forms the main stream, and afterwards receives five or six 
others — all in the County of Huntingdon. This county is, therefore, 
more liberally supplied with streams than any other in the State, and 
every stream, following the narrow gorges of the mountain ridges, 
presents favorable opportunities for applying its water-power. All 
the streams have their mills, forges, furnaces, and other iron works, 
while the whole county is well supplied with timber for the produc- 
tion of charcoal, as well as with beds of limestone and iron ore. In- 
deed, we are now in the most extensive iron region not only of the 



104 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



United States, but of the world ! It is really scarcely known to -what 
an immense extent the iron manufacture of this State has reached. 
Pennsylvania now produces more iron annually than was manufac- 
tured in all Great Britain thirty years ago. Compared to the present 
manufacture of the article in France, that of Pennsylvania is at least 
equal — it is more than Russia and Sweden united, and exceeds that 
of all Germany. Pennsylvania may well be called the Iron State of 
the Union ; and from these mineral treasures, she must build up a 
prosperity more splendid and permanent than if wrought from gold, 
for gold is the ultimate product of her iron. 

The Juniata, from its mouth at the Susquehanna to its head waters 
on the Alleghany, forms one continuous and unbroken iron country, 
and the productions of its furnaces and forges, we have already stated, 
are amongst the best which enter the market. 




UNION FUliNACE. 



As we are now in the " head quarters" of this stupendous iron dis- 
trict, we shall endeavor to point out some of the prominent features 
in its manufooture, and therefore commence here, which is the oldest 
establishment in this part of the country. It was erected nearly fifty 
years ago by Dorsey and Evans, and was worked successfully during 



BIRM INGHAM — TYRONE. 



105 



the greater portion of tho time until within two or three years past. 
It is a charcoal furnace, as are also all the others. Compared with 
more recent furnaces this affair is quite a curiosity. It is of small 
calibre, and its life was prolonged from time to time, with additions, 
supports, and patches, until finally it could stand it no longer, and 
yielded up its fiery breath. Jlr. Ritts, to whose hospitality and that 
of his amiable wife we must make, as we do with grateful pleasure, 
our acknowledgments, is the present proprietor, and was the last to 
work it. Should the iron trade revive, it is probable it may again be 
set in operation, with such improvements and additions as its decayed 
condition may call for. 

But we cannot enter into the spirit of iron manufactures until we 
shall have seen Birmingham — our Birmingham. Though not so large 
as its great namesake in England, it still occupies high ground, and is 
at least in the midst of a tremendous iron country. It is a village of 
four hundred population, more or less, and is romantically situated, 
if nothing more can be said of it. The scenery all around it is varied, 
but wild beyond measure. Speaking of Birmingham, suppose we run 
over to Ironville — a strong name, to be sure, for a small village ; yet, 
standing on an iron foundation, it is properly an iron village. Bridges ! 
bridges ! — is there to be no stop to these bridges ? This is the most 




rascally little river we have yet met with ; having crossed during the 
last five miles at least a dozen of these elegant iron structures, there 
is yet no end to 'em, for here we are again perched seventy feet in air, 
over the same stream, looking down at Ironville, nestling tliere on the 



106 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



hill ! We dash on, and wind around through a deep cut, when — con- 
found the stream — here it is again with another bridge ! But hold — 
here is Blair County, and before us one of the prettiest villages wo 
have yet seen. This is Tyrone, two hundred and twenty-six miles 
from Philadelphia, one hundred and thirty-nine from Pittsburg, and 
eight hundred and eighty-six feet above tide water. So, sir, you see 
we are "getting up in the world," as the saying is. We already 
breathe the fresh air of the Alleghany, and it will not be long ere we 
find ourselves on the top of its loftiest summit. Here then, within 
sight of old iron-bound Huntingdon, let us indulge some observations 
in reference to the manufacture of iron, of which this place is in many 
respects the principal theatre. These extensive works include a 
furnace at Bald Eagle, a few miles distant, a forge a few hundred 
yards above, a't the water-station, the forge below the railway, (indi- 




TVRONE. 



cated in the picture,) and some other works scattered over the land 
connected with them, embracing several thousand acres. The name 
of the firm is Lyon, Shorb & Co., and the business is conducted here 
by J. T. Matthias, Esq., a son-in-law of Mr. Shorb. This is, in our 
opinion, a model iron establishment. There are upwards of two hun- 



LEBANON FURNACES. 107 

dred hands regularly employed, averaging ten dollars per ■week, each ; 
and a more cheerful set of men we never saw — every one, too, we 
should judge, a sincere admirer of Mr. Matthias. We are probably 
diverging from the straight line of our object in alluding thus, en 
passent, to a gentleman occupying a position purely private. But it 
is so unusual a circumstance to hear overseers complimented by their 
workmen, that for the novelty of the thing we must beg to be excused 
for mentioning it. When we see a village of cheerful and contented 
people — neat, intelligent, industrious and orderly ; when we see the 
manager in his store, " busy as a bee" in attending to the wants of 
his hard-working customers, and only leaving it to dispense the sweet 
little courtesies of hospitality in his dwelling ; when we see all this, 
nothing could prevent us from believing that everytliing is just as it 
slioidd be ! And if we are not greatly mistaken, the success of these 
works is as much the result of their careful and judicious manage- 
ment as anything else that could be suggested ; while it is notorious 
that for the want of such management, many of the best establish- 
ments are often rendered unproductive and comparatively worthless. 
While upon iron, we should allude to 

The Cornwall Ore Baxks. — This celebrated deposit of iron ore, 
situated in South Lebanon township, Lebanon County, the largest 
in the State of Pennsylvania, or perhaps in the United States, has 
been worked for upwards of a century, and has long been celebrated 
for the quality of the iron produced from it. Mr. Richard C. Taylor, 
in a report made in 1851, thus speaks of them : 

"I need scarcely mention here the well known fixct, that the ore 
banks of Cornwall have acquired no slight celebrity in times past by 
reason of the peculiar physical features which they exhibit, and on 
account of the immense quantity of black magnetic iron ore which 
they contain, and which, for a long series of years, they have far- 
nished to the adjacent furnaces, and even now present unmistakable 
evidence of a far greater supply as yet untouched, above the ordinary 
level of the surrounding country." 

The largeness of this deposit, and the cheapness with which it is 
mined, for it requires no underground work, but merely to be quarried, 
makes it the most valuable mine of iron ore in the State. The aver- 
age per centagc is fifty, though there is much of it that will yield sixty- 
five or seventy per cent., being the pure magnetic oxide of iron. 

Lebanon Furn.a.ces, situated on the summit of the Union Canal, in 



108 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



North Lebanon township, Lebanon County, are owned by G. D. ColC' 
man. They consist of two blast furnaces, capable of making ten 
thousand tons of pig iron per annum, and a large foundry for the 
manufacture of cast iron pipe. These works, when in full operation, 
consume about twenty-five thousand tons of anthracite coal, and 
twenty thousand tons of iron ore ; the latter is obtained from the 





MALLET. 



PICK. 



Cornwall Mines. The coal used is from the Pine Grove region. This 
region of country, on account of the cheapness and richness of the 
ore of the Cornwall Mines, and its great abundance, must become 




WEDGE. SLEDGE. 

one of the great centres for the manufacture of iron, as it presents 
facilities unequalled in any part of the State. 

The instruments or tools for mining are here annexed. The pick. 




SHOVEL. 



made, according to circumstances, of various forms ; but one point is 
generally edged, and the other pointed. The mallet is used for driving 
wedges, and striking the hand-drill. The wedge is driven into crevice?, 




HAND-DRILL. TAMPING-BAR. 

or email openings, made with the pick to detach pieces from the rock 
or mine. The sledge is a mallet of from five to six pouijds weight, and 



f 

M 
W 
>■ 

a 

o 

SI 

o 
o 

DO 




10 



MINERS TOOLS. 



Ill 



is used to break larger pieces of rock or mine. A miner's shovel is 
pointed, so as to penetrate the coarse and hard fragments of minerals 
and rocks. All these tools should be well steeled and tempered, and 
kept in good repair. 

Besides these, the miner requires the following blasting tools : a 
Jiand-drill, which is a bar of iron or steel, edged at one end and 




FRONT VIEW OF A PEXNSYLVAMA BLAST FURNACE. 



headed at the other — both well hardened and tempered ; the scraper, 
a small iron rod with a hook on one end, to take the bore-meal out of 



112 



loco:motive sketches. 



the hole ; and a copper needle, which is a simple %Yire one-fourth of an 
inch thick, somewhat tapered at one end. The iamping-bar is a bar 
of round iron, with a groove to fit the needle. 

The erection of a furnace is a very complicated and hazardous task. 




TEETICAL SECTION OF A MODERN CnAECOAL FURNACE. 



The stack is always a piece of splendid masonry, requiring the most 
compact and heat-resisting stones. The engraving on page 111 exhibits 



IRON MANUFACTURE. 113 

a front view of a furnace stack, as they are ordinarily built — there being 
little difference in their external appearance, between charcoal and an- 
thracite furnaces ; this figure exhibits the prominent features of both. 
Charcoal furnaces are built upon one general principle, but vary 
materially in size and appearance, as well as in their interior struc- 
ture, according to the kind of ore and fuel, and similar circumstances 
governing their operations. The interior of the furnace-stack is lined 
with a wall of fire-brick, or else with fire-grained white sandstone, 
both of which are well adapted to resist the extraordinary heat to which 
it is exposed. The lining is situated a few inches from the main 
stack, the space between being filled in with fragments of stone, sand, 
and occasionally coarse mortar. This serves to protect the stack 
from the decomposing effects of the heat. The furnace stack is, 
moreover, secured from expansion by strong iron girders imbedded 
in it, as indicated in the engravings. The stack is generally sur- 
mounted with an iron or wooden-railing. The height of the furnace, 
of which the engraving on page 112 is a sketch, is thirty-five feet. 
The hearth measures five and a half feet from the base to the boshes ; its 
width at the bottom is twenty-four inches, and at the top thirty-six inches. 
The boshes are nine feet and a half in diameter, and measure from 
the top of the crucible four feet, thus giving a slope of about G0°. 
The tryeres are twenty feet above the base of the hearth. The blast 
is conducted through iron pipes, laid below the bottom-stone of the 
hearth, into the tryeres. There is little difference, either in the in- 
terior or outward structure, between charcoal and anthracite furnaces ; 
but to render our treatise as complete as possible, we append a view 
of the cross-section of the latter — that of Dr. Eckert, situated near 
Keading. (The Doctor is one of the most experienced, intelligent, 
and practical men connected with the iron-trade of this State. He 
formerly represented the fourteenth district in Congress — the largest 
and most important one in the Union. He is at present Director of 
the United States Mint, in Philadelphia, and we know of no man 
more thoroughly versed in all the practical intricacies and political 
economy of the coal and iron trade of Pennsylvania.) The height of 
this furnace is thirty-seven and a half feet ; the top six feet in diame- 
ter ; hearth, five feet high ; tryeres twenty-two inches above its bot- 
tom ; hearth, five feet square at the base, and six feet at the top ; 
boshes inclined 07^°, or six inches to the foot, and measure fuurteen 
feet at their largest diameter. Many of the anthracite furnaces re- 
ceive their charges of ore and fuel by a very ingenious contrivance, 
10* P 



114 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



which was first introduced at the Crane works, near Easton, and is 
applied at Phoenixville, Safe Harbor, and other places. A reservoir of 
water is put upon the trunnel-head bridge, where it is kept filled by 
means of force-pumps from the blast-engine. An iron chain sus- 
pended over a pulley carries one or two buckets of sheet iron, sufii- 
ciently heavy, when filled, to balance a charge of ore or coal. When 




CROSS-SECTION OF AN ANTURACITE FURNACE. 



either of these is loaded below, the filler turns a stop-cock, and fills 
the water bucket or barrel, which descends and lifts up the charge. 
A valve in the botton of the water-cask, which is opened by a simple 
arrangement, permits the water, when it arrives at the proper place, 
to escape. The platform containing the ore or coal, relieved from its 
burthen, is charged with empty boxes or barrows, after which it 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON 



115 



descends, and the water barrel again rises. This arrangement is 
peculiarly advantageous when the furnace has no rear ele° ation by 
which to approach the trunnel-head, as is the case at the points men- 
tioned, as well as the furnace of Ex-Govcrnor Porter, situated alono- 
side of the railroad, at Harrisburg. 

The opposite figure exhibits the inte- 
rior of a Pennsylvania charcoal furnace of 
the usual dimensions — width of boshes 
9^ feet ; hearth 5 feet high, two feet in 
width at bottom, and two and a quarter 
at the top. Two tons and a half of ore 
generally produce one ton of metal. 
For each ton about 180 bushels of char- 
coal are consumed — varying more or 
less, according to the quality or kind 
of wood charred. In charcoal furnaces 
the fuel, of course, forms one of the 
leading features. West of the Alle- 
ghany, some iron establishments, and a 
few furnaces, are supplied with coke. 
To extract tlie tar, or bituminous mat- 
ter from the coal, (as also the stilphu-, 
which is injurious in the furnace, and 
disqualifies the coal for use,) the coals 
are piled on heaps, or in an oven, and 
heated to a certain extent, when the 
atmosphere is shut out by covering 
them with a coat of earth. At many places, however, ovens are 




IXTERIOE OF A CHARCOAL 
FURXACE. 




COKE OVEN. 

built at considerable expense, of which the annexed figure affords 
an iUustration, The ovea is erected on the side of a hil], so as to 



116 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 




COKE OVEN. 



allow the coal to be hauled and thrown in the top with facility. The 
interior of the ovens is nearly circular, so as to prevent the matter 
hanging on the walls, as well, also, to facilitate the process of charring. 
Two or three tons of bituminous coal are placed in the furnace, when 
the fire is kindled, after which the doors, 6 b and a, are closed, and 
the bituminous matter separates from the coal, and leaves behind a 
spongy substance of about the same quality as charred wood. The 
process is very little different from that of charring wood, and various 




SKTIIXG TUE WOOD FOR CUARKING. 



plans are adopted to effect the same object. As there is neither an- 
thracite nor bituminous coal in any of the counties drained by the 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON, 



117 



Juniata, (except the great Broad Top Mountain district, lately alluded 
to, which is consequently highly valuable,) charcoal necessarily con- 
stitutes the sole fuel of the iron works. A great difference exists in 
the value of wood, and charcoal has all the variety and quality of 
character of fossil coal — the more compact and fine-grained wood 
yielding the best coal, and principally because it contains less water 
or sap than other kinds. Tough oak, therefore, for the production 
of charcoal, is worth one dollar per cord ; when common pine is worth 
about sixty cents. The Alleghanies, particularly on their western 
slope, are abundantly supplied with oak timber, as well as nearly 
every other variety generally peculiar to the State, as oaks, poplar, 
beech, sugar-maple, birch, pines, hickory, &c. The -most common 
mode of burning charcoal, in this State, is in heaps, as represented in 
the engraving on page 116. The sticks of wood are set close together, in 
a nearly vertical position. In the centre of the heap, (which is about 
fifty feet in diameter, or less,) the largest sticks are placed sufficiently 




Till-: IMIOCESS OF CUAR|;ING. 



wide apart to form a chimney, a. After the wood is thus carefully 
arranged, brush-wood and loose earth are thrown over the pile, so as 
to smother the flame, and prevent its bursting out from the mass of 
wood. The fire is applied to the wood soon after this covering is 



118 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



effected, which is increased from time to time, as circumstances seem 
to require. For the purpose of attracting the fire all around the heap, 
holes are made in the sides to create draft, through wliich the watery 
elements of the wood are expelled, by the heat of the hydrogen, oxy- 
gen and carbon, which is, in turn, held in check by the exclusion of 
atmospheric air. Were the air alloAved to circulate, the entire mass 
of wood would be reduced to ashes. The whole process is extremely 
intricate, depending for complete success on the state of the weather, 
as well as the skill and watchfulness of the colliers. The burning 
lasts two or three days and nights, according to the nature of the 
wood, and the success attending the operation. 




OVEN FOR ROASTING ORE. 



The fuel being thus prepared, the next point is in regard to ore. 
These are of various qualities, and need not be enumerated here. 
Nearly all ores have to be cleaned, that is, the earthy matter associ- 
ated with them is removed, either by washing or puuuding. After 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON 



119 



this many ores are roasted, to effect which kihis are often constructed, 
somewhat similar to those for burning lime. 

In the engraving on page 118, a is the shaft hearth, where ore and fuel 
are thrown in ; & 6 are the grate-bars, which can be removed to let down 
the roasted ore ; c e are side arches, which permit access to the draft 
holes ; d d d d avQ four arches, including the work arch. To start 
operations in such an oven, the grate bars are covered with wood ; 
upon this is placed cither charcoal or coal ; then a layer of coal and 
ore alternately, until the oven is filled, after which the fire is kindled. 
When the lower strata of ore are sufiiciently roasted, they are taken 
out at the grate bars. The air-holes, d d d d are designed to admit 
air when necessary, as well as to observe the progress of the work. 
As the top of the ore sinks, it is replaced by fresh layers. This kind 
of furnace is used only for the hydrates, carburets, and other easily 
worked ores, but will not answer for carbonates, sulphurets, or even 
magnetic ores — for they are too soon smelted. They are generally 
roasted in heaps in the open air. 




COAT^ BARROW. 



Putting a furnace into blast is a very delicate and responsible 
task — requiring great prudence, watchfulness, and activity. To 
supply the furnace with fuel, a barrow, similar to the above, is em- 
ployed. A new furnace requires firing for two or three weeks before 
the rermlar charges of ore can be thrown in. After the stack and 
hearth-stone are sufficiently dry, the charges of ore are introduced in 
small quantities, and are afterwards gradually increased. 

The furnace is always exposed, at the outlet, to the liability of chil- 
ling ; that is, the iron clinkers in the interior, and suddenly cools 
near the mouth or top-hole, impairing the di-aft, and not unfrequently 
entirely choking it up. in whicli case the whole interior work has 



120 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



sometimes to be taken out and rebuilt. Under these circumstances, 
introduction of the charges of ore and fuel becomes an important 
matter. A measure often used, similar to the above, is constructed 
of two half-inch round iron-bars, so connected at one end that one 
bar sinks into the furnace, while the other serves as a handle ; b 




CHARGE MEASURE OP FURNACES. 



forming the handle ; c the measure, and the iron plate, a, prevents the 
sinking of the rod into the materials. There are various other devi- 
ces to effect the same object, but these are the most common and 
simple. 

The philosophical principles of the blast furnace, or the causes 
which separate the several substances with which it is charged and 
precipitate the metals of the ore, are by no means easily disclosed. 
While the effects produced are generally well understood, the nature 
of those chemical and mechanical changes and combinations, formed 
by the decomposition of the combustible material in the blast, during 
the various stages of ignition through which it passes, is not easily ex- 
plained. The engraving on page 121 exhibits Mr. Overman's theor}^ of the 
blast, according towhich it appears that, at a, (the pointswhere the blast 
is received,) the first operation of ignition commences. Here the chemi- 
cal composition of the material in the furnace undergoes an important 
change,the immediate result of which is a new combination of fiery mat- 
ter, which is borne along with great force by the ascending draft. The 
iron ore, being less combustible, is thrown against the walls of the fur- 
nace, where it is liable to form benches or projecting arms of clinker. 
The fiery draft, by its peculiar chemical qualities, penetrates the 



MANUFACTURE OP IRON. 



121 



pores of the iron ore, and uniting with its combustible parts, precipitates 
the metal in a fluid state. The metal, as it sinks, still bears off a 
certain quantity of the gases, as -well as more or less of the earthy- 
matter originally conglomerated with it — hence the lava which 
always floats upon the surface of the pure metal. To thoroughly 
perform this operation in the fur- 
nace requires a due mixture of fuel 
and fluxes with the ore, while the ore 
itself has often to be mixed with 
other ores, combining diflferent chem- 
ical or mineral qualities, to secure 
safe and easy working in the furnace, 
as well as pure metal. What is 
known, therefore, as rich ore, (or ore 
which yields a large per centage of 
metal,) is really not rich when esti- ^ 
mated in reference to economical 
working in the furnace, for such 
ores are necessarily heavy, compact, 
and hard to penetrate by the blast, 
thereby consuming more fuel, and 
exposing the furnace to irregulari- 
ties and other dangers. In short, 
rich ores have generally to be mixed 
with poor ores, and, in point of 
economy for smelting, one is scarcely 
more valuable than the other. The 
furnace is usually tapped at inter- 
vals of twelve hours. The cinders 
or lava is first allowed to escape, 

after which the metal flows out, and travels through iron troughs, or 
canals made in damp sand, and reaching the beds prepared for it, 
is cut off into pieces of about two feet in length, and probably eight 
inches in circumference. Here the metal is imbedded in moulds, and 
becomes cool in a short time. This is what is called jng iron, and 
here ends the whole process of smelting the ore in the furnace. 

One of the most interesting and beautiful sights which the varied 
arts of civihzcd man can afford, is the opei-ation of tapping the metal 
from the furnace. The metal wildly issues forth in a red translucent 
11 Q 




v/////////////^ 



THEORV OP THE BLAST FCRXACE. 



122 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

liquid, leaping along the little banks and curvatures of the canals, as 
if right glad to escape from the prison where 

Black spirits and white, 
Blue spirits and gray, 
Mingle, mingle, mingle, 
They that mingle may ! 

Thus released from the clay and rock with which it was lately asso- 
ciated in the " bowels of the earth," it comes forward, crackling and 
sparkling, to play a very important part in the progressive and varied 
scenes of man. To see the stubborn, cold, hard rocks thus turned 
into threads of molten iron, leaping and creeping submissively at our 
feet, is, indeed, a scene interesting alike to our sight and pride, and 
gi-atifying to contemplate. Such scenes undoubtedly raise the human 
family still higher in the scale of moral grandeur — for it is here where 
civilized man forges his thunderbolts against ignorance and oppres- 
sion ; — it is here where he asserts the majesty of mind and the glory 
of labour ; — it is here where, by the metals raised from the caverns 
of mountains, "he obtains strength for his hands, and subjects all 
nature to his use and pleasure." 

After the metal leaves the furnace, it is subjected to various mani- 
pulations, depending on the use and form to which it is to be applied. 
The immediate object of these manipulations, is to render the metal 
purer and stronger, as well as to put it in size and shape for still 
further working. Pig iron is always converted into blooms, and this 
is done either in the forge-fire or the puddling furnace. The forge- 
fire is the oldest made, as well as the most simple — there being no 
material difierence between it and the common fire of the blacksmith, 
except in the heavier character of the former. A mass of metal is 
thus melted and carried to the forge-hammer, which is moved by 
machinery, and gives a tremendous blow. Whatever impurities are 
in the metal, will be pretty well hammered out under this huge ham- 
mer, and the metal, as it cools, is formed into rounded pieces, about a 
foot in length, which are called blooms. In the annexed figure, p. 123, 
a is the hammer, weighing from one hundred to four hundred pounds. 
It is strongly wedged to the helve, h, which is moved by the project- 
ing teeth h, of the cylinder k. This cylinder is made to revolve by 
the water or fly-wheel, m. The hot metal is laid under the hammer, 
upon the platform d. The metal is temporarily connected with an 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON 



123 




FOnCE HAMMER. 



iron handle, so as to guide it under the hammer, and is cut off after 
the bloom is perfected. 

After leaving the forge-hammer, the bloom is ready for conver- 
sion into rolled or bar iron of every description, preparatory to which 
it undergoes some additional working in the puddling or heating fur- 
naces — especially the pig metal of the anthracite furnaces of the east- 
ern counties of Pennsylvania, which is much more impure than char- 
coal iron. This iron, in fiict, is not forged at all ; but after being 
puddled is taken to the squeezer, formed into blooms, and is then 
ready, after re-heating, for the rollers. The puddling-furnaces are al- 
ways erected in the interior of rolling-mills, and their tall chimneys 
are seen projecting all around the building. They are built singly 
and doubly, of various dimensions, but on one general principle. By 
their aid iron, otherwise valueless, can be made perfectly good, which 



124 



L O C O JM T ] V E SKETCHES. 



cannot bo done in the forge. Besides this, iron can be produced of 
any desired quality. The hearth is most generally composed of fire- 
brick, over -which is a coating of furnace cin- 
ders, broken into small pieces. Upon this 
the metal is thrown, and heated until the 
whole is melted, when the puddler stirs up the 
mass, and rolls it into balls of sizes to cor- 
respond with the capacity of the rollera, or the 
size and nature of the pieces of bar iron to be 
produced. The engraving on page 125 exhibits 
the interior of an anthracite puddling fur- 
nace, from which the process of working the 
metal is indicated. The interior of these fur- 
naces, as may well be supposed, is intensely 
hot, and great skill is required to work the 
metal and keep the furnace in proper work- 
ing condition. The chimney tops of these 
furnaces, as we have just remarked, may be 
seen ranging along the roofs of all rolling- 
mills, and when they are in full operation, 
always present an aspect 
great activity and indus- 
Tho large railroad mill 
at Safe Harbor, when 
all the doors are opened 
in the summer time, 
afibrds, in the even- 
ing, one of the most 
picturesque scenes that could be imagined. The fire of the numerous 
puddling and heating furnaces — the red glare of the blooms, as they 
are borne along to the squeezer — the pale translucent heat of the flat 
plates, as they are run through the rollers — the rattle and movements 
of the stupendous and complicated machinery — the peculiar buzz and 
extraordinary evolutions of the large fly-wheel — the hasty and deter- 
mined movements of upwards of three hundred athletic artisans — all 
convey an idea of industry and enterprise perfectly magnificent to 
contemplate. It might be supposed that such a place, at such a time, 
would be almost as hot as the puddling furnaces themselves — but 




VIEW OF A PUDDLING FURNACE. 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON. 



125 



such is tlie ventillation of these large establishments, that they are 
by no means uncomfortable, notwithstanding the great heat of the 
fires, in the hottest weather of the season. 




VIEW OF THE INTERIOR OF A PUDDLING FURNACE. 

When the metal is sufficiently boiled and worked in the puddlino- 
furnace, it is rolled into as compact a ball as possil^le, and then with 
all convenient despatch is Ibrnc in iron pincers to the squeezer. 




11* 



SQUEEZER FOB BLOOMS. 



126 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



The object of the squeezer is indicated by the name. The red hot 
ball is placed into its iron jaws at d, and is thus pressed at 
every evolution of the wheel which drives it — the bloom being still 
held by tongs, and turned round as occasion requires. Whatever im- 
purity may be in the metals is thus worked out by the squeezer, at 
the same time that the bloom is made perfectly solid and compact. 
The rotary squeezer is probably a much better machine for this pur- 
pose than any other now in use, inasmuch as it saves labor, and per- 
forms the work in a very brief space of time. The stationary part of 




HOTART SQUEEZER. 



the apparatus is marked a a, and consists chiefly of a cast iron cloak, 
which encloses the movable parts, bbb. An eccentric space between 
the two main parts is thus left, in which the ball is placed, and is thus 
rolled and pressed into a bloom by the time it comes out. The heated 
ball makes a rumbling noise in its passage through the rotary squeezer, 
accompanied with one or two very loud reports or explosions. The 
squeezer, however, is very compactly built, and is so constructed that 
it cannot well be choked up or broken by too large a charge. 

The blooms are generally conveyed directly from the squeezer to 
the roughing rollers, where they are thinned and considerably elon- 
gated. The engraving on page 127 represents a series of flat rollers, from 
which the gradual transition of the metal in a round to a long and 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON 



127 




FLAT ROLLERS. 



flat form Tvill be indicated — entering the square space on the right and 
proceeding to the groove-rollers in the middle. The leading features 
of all rollers are very nearly similar — differing only in their form, 




ROLLER.S FOR SHEET-inOX. 



strength, and dimensions. Roughing rollers are, therefore, merely 
adapted to the rough form of the bloom, -which tliey elongate by pres- 



128 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



sure, and render nearly square. After leaving the roughing rollers, 
the iron is taken to such rollers as will reduce it to the desired shape — 
if it is to be run into square bars it -will pass through the grooves of 
the flat rollers — if in broad sheets for sheet-iron, it will pass through 
rollers like those indicated on page 127, or if in small round or 
square bars, like those of the figure below. For sheet-iron and wire, 
charcoal iron is always best. In ancient times sheet-iron and other 
flat iron was hammered out from the blooms by forge-hammers, and 
then flattened, and the surface smoothed by smaller hammers over the 
anvil. This method is still pursued in some portions of Europe, 
where labor is not of as much consideration and value as it is in this 
country. For this reason we are compelled to resort to machinery 
whenever it can be done, and hence the proverbial ingenuity of our 
countrymen, as evinced in every department of the useful arts. The 
iron to be wrought into broad sheets must previously have been run 




^v\\4kV*«\\\Y.\N\V,\X"-v 



ROLLKES FOE SMALL BAES. 

into flat bars. It should be a clear, white, and fibrous iron, and 
adapted to the progressive capacity of the rollers. The wrenches on 
the top screws of the rollers in the figure above, form a cross, so as to 
expose a handle to the workmen, by means of which they are enabled 
to regulate ilie ikichiess of the sheets, as the iron passes between the 
rollers. The sheet, which soon resembles sheet-iron in point of thin- 
ness, is then reheated, and again passed through the rollers, after 
which two sheets are rolled together. Shee1>iron is thus made of 
any required thickness, from the strong tenacious boiler-iron to the 
thin wafery sheet. 

The iron for small round and square bars is run through rollers 
similar to the above — first passing the flat grooves at a and d, then c, 



MANUFACTURE OF IRON. 



129 



and finally at b, •where it is cut off into long thin rods, similar to 
those used by blacksmiths and machinists. The process is simple. 
In rolling railroad bars, the ne plus ultra of the art is achieved. The 
blooms are, of course, very heavy, and the whole process of rolling 
is on a scale much more stupendous than any other kind of work. 
The annexed figure shows the gradual transformation of the square 
billet, -when introduced here. It is received at No. 1, and after pass- 
ing through, is run through numbers 2 and 3. Number 4 presses 
the bottom and top smooth, and works the bottom flanch down to its 




GROOVES FOR RAILROAD IRON, 



proper thickness, and somewhat broader. Nos. 5 and G are almost 
of equal form and size, giving the finish to the rail. The decrement 
of the grooves is very limited, and there is no difficulty whatever in 
making a straight rail, even with one groove less. To run the heavy 
rails through the rollers is, as may well be supposed, a herculean 
task — but machinery is brought to bear in this, as in every other de- 
partment of the business. Chains are suspended from sliding pulleys 
fixed in frame-work over the heads of the operatives, to which huge 
tongs are attached. These are guided by the workmen, and the long 
red hot rail is seized and conducted to the groove, where the revolving 
rollers grasp it. As soon as it appears on the other side, another set 
of men, with tongs in readiness, grasp it, and immediately return it 
through another groove. And thus, after five or six passages through 
the rollers, the rail appears with its peculiar form, and now only needs 
to be cut off smoothly at both ends, and, if crooked, straightened out, 

to complete it. The sawing machine, for cutting the ends of the rail, 

R 



130 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



is exhibited in the engraving below. The saws are circular, and are 
put in motion by the straps at a. But one end of the rail is cut at the 
same time — that done, the rail is drawn under the saw at the other end, 
and cut off in like manner. Equal lengths are not generally demanded 
by Railroad companies, hence they are sometimes a little longer and 
sometimes shorter than the uniform length sought. After the ends 
are thus cut off, the rail is subjected to a few simple processes to 
render it perfectly straight, after which the whole work is completed. 




SAWING APPARATUS FOR CUTTINO RAILROAD IRON. 



The whole number of charcoal furnaces supposed to be in operation 
in Pennsylvania, is about two hundred and eighty, yielding an annual- 
product of two hundred and fifty thousand tons. The number of an- 
thracite furnaces we estimate at fifty, yielding one hundred thousand 
tons, making the total of furnaces in the State three hundred and 
thirty, and the aggregate yield three hundred and fifty thousand tons. 
Under the tariff act of 1842, the number of furnaces, especially an- 
thracite, increased at a most extraordinary rate — having almost dou- 
bled the entire number during the few years it remained in force. The 
present law, however, has all along operated unfavorably, and while 
many works have been suspended very few new ones have been put 
up. There is at this time, however, probably not less than fifteen 
millions of dollars invested in the production of iron, exclusive of 
about $0,000,000 invested in rolling-mills, and similar works for the 
conversion of the metal into forms for use, making the aggregate sum 
about $21,000,000. This, we think, is a moderate estimate, based on 
practical data. The number of persons employed in mining the 
anthracite and iron ore, is about five thousand ; in making the char- 
coal, fifteen thousand ; total, twenty thousand. The number of per- 



SINKING SPRING. 131 

sons directly dependent on this description of labor may be stated at 
seventy thousand ; of those supported by their lal)or in the conversion 
of pig iron, ninety thousand ; and of the population connected vnth 
the production of iron, one hundred thousand — making the total 
number of persons directly and indirectly concerned in iron manu- 
factures, in Pennsylvania, including miners and colliers, two hundred 
and eighty thousand. Besides this a large number are employed in 
the manufactories of machinery ; in the transportation, sale, shipment, 
and other branches of the trade. 

We have thus endeavored to present the outline features of several 
of the more prominent points of inquiry upon iron manufactures. 
To describe particularly the whole process would require a volume 
thrice the extent of these pages. To those desiring more elaborate 
information, and scientific and practical data, we would commend the 
able work of Mr. Overman, already alluded to, which combines all on 
this subject that the most practical and curious could desire. Nearly 
all the foregoing illustrations are copied, by permission of the pub- 
lisher, from this work : 11. C. Baird, Philadelphia. 

A short distance from Tyrone station is the celebrated Sinking 
Spring, situated in a limestone formation, in the valley bearing the same 
name. It is an object of great interest, and well deserves a visit from 
the passing traveller. The spring, where the water emerges, is called 
Arch Spring, because it rises in a large limestone rock, with a high arch 
overhanging. As the stream runs along amidst the wildest scenery, 
it receives additions from smaller springs, when finally the whole 
volume of water disappears in a large cavern, and again enters the 
bowels of the earth. In the inside of this rocky cavern the stream 
continues from eighteen to twenty feet wide. The roof declines as 
you advance, and a ledge of loose rugged rock keeps in tolerable 
order upon one side, affording means to scramble along. In the 
midst of this cave are large quantities of brush, fragments of trees 
and branches, and such Like matter, lodged quite up to the roof, thus 
indicating that the water, during freshets, is swelled up to the full 
capacity of its rocky jaws. This opening continues several hundred 
yards, when the cavern opens into a spacious room, at the bottom of 
which is a great vortex, into which the water is precipitated, and 
whirls round with amazing force. The stream is supposed to pass 
several miles under Brush and Cove Mountains, and to re-appear by 
two branches, which empty into the Frankstown branch of the Juniata. 



132 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

Opposite the station at Tyrone, on the left, we have Tussey's 
Mountain, and on the right the bold ridge constituting the Bald 
Eagle Mountain, celebrated for its deposits of iron ore. The whole 
country here, however, is filled with iron ore and limestone, with 
some thin layers of the carbonate of lead, which, many years ago, 
excited a great deal of attention. A few hundred yards above this 
station is Tyrone City, a sprightly little village, sailing with flying 
colors under a prosperous breeze. All it wants to become a city in 
reality, is fair play and plenty of time. It already has the name, and 
makes a decent exhibit of several brick houses, among which is a 
hotel, which looks large enough to accommodate a crowd of hungry 
summer tourists. We say hungry, because we happen to know some- 
thing about it. Turn a city " pale-face" loose among these moun- 
tains, let him ramble boldly amongst the foxes, and snakes, and bears 
that frequent them, and if he never before 'knew Appetite, he will soon 
become familiar with him. 

Passing the unimportant stations of Tipton's Kun, Fastoria, 
Bell's Mills, and Blair Furnace, we arrive at the intersection of 
the branch and main line of the railway at Altoona. The branch 
road extends six miles to Ilollidaysburg, where it meets the Alleghany 
Portage road, already mentioned as crossing the mountain by means 
of inclined-planes and stationary steam-engines. The main branch 
of the Central Railroad, between Altoona on the eastern, and a point 
a few miles from Conemaugh station on the western slope of the 
mountain, is still in an unfinished state, but wiU probably be ready 
for use in the course of the next ensuing eight months. This road 
boldly climbs the mountain without the assistance of inclined-planes. 
The ascent is accomplished in twelve and a half miles, by a maximum 
gradiate of eighty-four and a half feet on straight lines, reduced on 
curvatures, according to their diameter, to seventy-five feet upon those 
of minimum radii. To reduce the elevation to be overcome, from the 
foot to the summit of the mountain, a tunnel has been driven through 
it at the highest elevation of the road, which is over eleven hundred 
yards in length. The elevation of this tunnel above tide-water is 
nearly twenty-two hundred feet! The whole distance across the 
mountain from Altoona to Conemaugh station is about thirty-five 
miles, or about the same distance as the present Portage Railroad with 
its ten inclined planes ! 

A brief description of this road, or some of its most prominent 



|!li,;V Vii t'l- -.,' 'u -.--.»^ 




I ! 



m i' 



: MB, 



i^jjajUijE!!: 



'Ill ^ i 



III 11 



I '■ 



X'iilii 




:ii|n|i, 



mm 



THE r E N N -S Y L V A M A RAILROAD. 135 

characteristics, may not prove uninteresting in this place. It is, -with- 
out doubt, all things considered, the most complete, the most substan- 
tial, the most interesting railroad improvement yet constructed in the 
United States. It was commenced in 1847, and will be completed 
throughout, with single track and sidings, in the ensuing year. It 
extends from Ilarrisburg to Pittsburg, connecting the Ohio River 
with the capitol of the State, and by means of the railroads already 
finished, on the east, with Philadelphia, the second city in point of 
population on the "Western continent, and first in the natural resources 
of the country tributary to it. The length of the Pennsylvania Rail- 
road is two hundred and forty-eight miles, of which about two hun- 
dred and twelve miles are now in successful operation — while the 
whole of the remaining portion is under contract, and rapidly advancing 
towards completion. The route of this road, although it intersects in 
its course all of the mountain ranges of the State, is highly favorable. 
The Alleghany Mountain is the only one not severed to its base by 
cither the Susquehanna, Juniata, or Conemaugh Rivers, the valleys 
of which are followed by the railroad through the great gateways na- 
ture has opened for its accommodation. The distance from Harris- 
burg to Altoona, at the foot of the eastern slope of the mountains, is 
one hundred and thirty one miles, and the ascent overcome is eight 
hundred and fifty-eight feet. The steepest ascending gradient on this 
part of the road, passing eastwardly, is ten and a half feet per mile, and 
westwardly twenty-one feet per mile. From Altoona to Pittsburg the 
steepest gradient is fifty-two and eight-tenths feet per mile, with the 
exception of nearly twelve miles of the eastern slope of the mountain 
already referred to, where a maximum gradient of eighty-four and a 
half feet on straight lines, reduced to seventy-five feet by means of 
curvatures, is encountered, upon which extra locomotive power may 
be employed, locomotive stations being located on both sides of the 
mountain, at Altoona and Conemaugh, near Johnstown. 

The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad overcomes this mountain by a 
maximum gradient fifteen miles in length, of one hundred and six- 
teen feet per mile, and descends upon the west side, at the same rate, 
for eight miles. It also overcomes Laurel Hill, which is avoided on 
our route by a tunnel four thousand two hundred feet long, with 
gradients on each side of one hundred and five feet per mile. 

The Pennsylvania Road is graded for a double track in all the tun- 
nels and rock cuttings, and much of the earth work ; the masonry 



136 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

in all cases is consti-ucted for a double track. Thirty-nine miles of 
the mountain division, and thirty-four immediately east of it, it is 
proposed to lay with a double track at once ; and on the rest of the 
line there will be sidings every five miles. 

The superstructure is of the most substantial character. The cross 
ties of white-oak, eight by eight inches, eight and a half feet long, 
placed two and a half feet apart, are imbedded in ballasts of broken 
Btone, twenty inches in depth. This is one of the finest features of the 
road, for while it gives it a substantial and solid basis, it prevents the 
accumiilatwn of dust, so vixmoYifig to passengers on every other rail- 
road with which we are acquainted. Indeed, summer travelling on 
many railroads, by reason of the dust, is rendered a source not of 
pleasure, but of downright sufi"ering and fatigue. Another splendid 
feature, which has already been alluded to in connection with the Safe 
Harbor and Phcenixville Railroad mills, is the^ heavy and substantial 
character of the railroad iron. The rails weigh sixty-four pounds to 
the yard, except on the steep grades of the Alleghany moimtain, 
where their weight is increased to seventy-six pounds to the yard! These 
rails are all of American manufacture, and no one need to be told of 
their great superiority over similar iron imported from England. 
One-half the accidents occurring on railroads are to be attributed to 
the inferior quality and lightness of the railroad iron. The buildings 
and bridges, we have also observed before, are of the most approved, 
elegant, and substantial character ; and the examples afforded by our 
illustrations will abundantly establish their superiority over structures 
of the same class on other railroad lines. In the words of the Ethio- 
pian song : 

We've travelled East, 

And we've travelled AVest, 
And Tvo've been to Alabama; 

but in all our travels we never saw a more complete, systematic, and 
interesting railroad line than this, the pride of the Keystone State. 
While very little has been expended in unnecessary ornament, no ex- 
pense has been spared which was required to secure substantial excel- 
lence. From Altoona to Pittsburg, one hundred and seventeen miles, 
there are only two wooden bridges, each of about one hundred feet 
span, all the others being constructed of stone or iron. 

Bituminous coal abounds on the western part of the road from 
Pittsburg to the summit of the Alleghany Mountain, a distance of one 



PENNSYLVANIA RAILROADS. . 137 

hundred and five miles, the road passing in this distance through 
numerous veins varying from four to thirteen feet in thickness. The 
extensive coal field at Broad Top Mountain is ^vithin fifteen miles of 
the road, at a point one hundred and fifty-five miles east of Pittsburg 
and ninety west of Harrisburg, while, in the valley of the Susque- 
hanna, the road is in the immediate vicinity of the anthracite coal 
region. 

At Harrisburg commences the Harrisburg and Lancaster Railroad, 
thirty-sis miles long, now leased and worked by the Pennsylvania 
Railroad Company. This road intersects the Columbia Railroad at 
Lancaster, completing the railroad communication to the city of 
Philadelphia. The distance from Harrisburg to Philadelphia is one 
hundred and sis miles, but improvements are now in progress upon 
the Columbia Road which will save about four miles, making the 
whole distance, from Pittsburg to Philadelphia, three hundred and 
fifty miles. A railroad, running from Harrisburg via Cornwall, 
Ephrata, and Phccnisville, to Philadelphia, is now being surveyed, 
and will probably be, completed in a short time. This will bo a 
shorter route than the present State Road, and may possibly be used 
hereafter by this line for the transportation of its passengers. 

At Harrisburg the line of railroads leading to Baltimore and "Wash- 
ington also commences. The distance from Harrisburg to Baltimore 
is eighty-five miles, and from Pittsburg to Baltimore, by this route, 
three hundred and thirty-three miles. The above eastern and south- 
ern connections are completed. Pittsburg, the western terminus of 
the Pennsylvania Railroad, is a most important manufacturing city, 
and has been appropriately styled the " Birmingham of America." 
Its population, including that of the suburban towns, is about one 
hundred thousand. The position of the city, on the Ohio, at the head 
of navigation for first-class steamers, connects it, through the Missis- 
sippi and its tributaries, with the south and west by several thousand 
miles of continuous steamboat navigation, which alone will draw to 
it sufficient business for transportation to and from the seaboard to 
insure the success of the Pennsylvania Railroad. But as this naviga- 
tion is subject to interruptions from low water, regularity of inter- 
course, as well as a direct connection with the interior and the lakes, 
seemed to demand railroad facilities to secure the control of the travel 
and carriage of valuable freights to this route. 

The railroads and canals hitherto constructed to accommodate the 
12* S 



138- LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

population of Ohio and Indiana have generally a north and south di- 
rection, connecting the fertile central region with the Ohio River and 
Lake Erie. Within a few years the importance of a more direct 
eastern communication with the seaboard has been appreciated, and 
several great leading lines have been projected and commenced to 
secure this object. That which has made most progress is the Ohio 
and Pennsylvania Railroad, commencing at Pittsburg, and extending 
westwardly through the most fertile and populous part of Ohio, to the 
new town called Crestline, on the Columbus and Cleveland Railroad, a 
distance of one hundred and eighty miles. From Crestline a railroad 
is completed to the city of Cincinnati, on the Ohio River ; another has 
been commenced to Fort Wayne, in Indiana, which will be extended 
to Chicago, on Lake Michigan ; another will be completed in the 
coming twelve months, from Crestline, through Bellefontaine and In- 
dianapolis, to Terre Haute, on the western boundary of the State of 
Indiana, a distance of two hundred and seventy-five miles. The ex- 
tension of this to the city of St. Louis, on the Mississippi, one hun- 
dred and seventy miles further, has been commenced. Of the com- 
pletion of this entire direct continuous railroad from Philadelphia to 
St. Louis, a distance of nine hundred and seventy-six miles, within 
two years, there can be no doubt. The region traversed by this route 
is equal in fertility to any portion of the globe, and is inhabited by a 
people who have the sagacity and enterprise to improve and draw 
from it all that the bountiful hand of the Creator has designed for it. 

The Ohio and Pennsylvania Railroad is now completed to Massillon, 
one hundred and four miles. At Alliance, eighty-four miles from 
Pittsburg, it intersects the Cleveland and Pittsburg Railroad, which 
is completed from that point to Cleveland, making a direct railroad 
communication between Pittsburg and Lake Erie, one hundred and 
forty miles long. From Cleveland to the City of New York, by way 
of the Pennsylvania Railroad, the distance is now forty miles shorter 
than by tlie New York and Erie Railroad ; and must consequently 
command the travel from the Western States to that commercial em- 
porium. 

The Pittsburg and Steubenville Railroad will connect this line with 
the Steubenville and Indiana Railroad, and accommodate the centre 
of Ohio ; while the Hempfield Railroad from Greensburg, thirty miles 
east of Pittsburg, to Wheeling, will connect it with the southern por- 
tions of that State, through the Marietta, Chilicothe and Cincinnati 



THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD. 139 

road, upon which line an unbroken guage of track may be secured to 
St. Louis. These form the leading eastern communications in Ohio, 
already alluded to ; and to those, and especially the Ohio and Penn- 
^ sylvania road, all the north and south lines from Cleveland, Sandusky, 
Lexington, Louisville, Evansville, &c., will become tributaries, con- 
centrating the trade and travel of the great Mississippi basin, and 
pouring it over the Pennsylvania Railroad and the main trunk con- 
necting the commercial and manufocturing interest of the East with 
the rich agricultural regions of the West. 

Calculations of the amount of transportation and travel that will 
pass over this great highway appear, in view of these facts, to be 
superfluous. All its rivals are inferior in character, more expensive 
to work, and encumbered by a disproportionate debt. It has there- 
fore nothing to fear from rivalry, either on the north or the south ; 
and its business will only be limited by the capacity of a first class 
double track railroad. 

In its present incomplete condition it yields a net revenue of more 
than eight per ceni!. upon the capital expended in its construction, and 
has attained a tonage, ere it has reached its western terminus, nearly 
as great as can bo carried with regularity upon a single track road. 

The entire estimated cost of the road, finished with a single track 
and sidings, and equipments, including freight and passenger sta- 
tions at Philadelphia, is $12,300,000. The whole amount of subscrip- 
tions, thus far, exceed ten millions of dollars, and the work of the 
Company has been prosecuted without incurring a dollar of debt. 
The remaining amount to complete and equip the road is now bein^- 
subscribed, and presents a splendid inducement for the investment of 
the capital. 

The following statement exhibits the receipts and expenditures of 
the road for the year ending 1851 : 

From Passengers, Mails, Express, &c. on Pennsylvania 

Railroad, ^T ,.- ,^- " - $315,145 33 

irom Lancaster, Columbia, and Portage Railroads, 371,164 54 

Total Receipts from Passengers, Mails, &c., - - 686,309 78 

Total Receipts from Freight, - - . 353255 72 

Total Receipts, - - 1,039,565 59 



14U LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 


Expenses. 




Maintenance of Way, 

Maintenance of Cars, 

Motive Power, 

Conducting Transportation, including 
tolls and expenses on State and 
Harrisburg & Lancaster Railroads, 


$51,547 66 

20,611 28 

- 78,173 68 

556,307 57 

70fi (\A0 1Q 


Balance, or Total Net Receipts, 


$332,925 40 


The following statement will exhibit the receipts of the Company 


since the commencement of the present 


fiscal year. 


For January, ... 
February, -^ 
March, 

April, ... - 
May, - c . . 
June, - - - 
July, .... 
August, 1st week, 


$93,772 50 

- 157,251 13 
245,373 71 

- 206,408 94 
163,183 92 

- 123,752 83 
114,479 52 

28,040 04 


Total, - - - $1,132,262 59 
Same months last year, 584,995 92 



Difference, or increase, - $547,266 67 

Altoona, (two hundred and thirty-eight miles from Philadelphia, 
one hundred and twenty-five from Pittsburg, and elevated eleven 
hundred and sixty-eight feet above tide-water,) will ultimately become 
one of the most important places on this route. And it is a source of 
satisfaction to perceive that there is plenty of room, and that admir- 
ably situated, for a large and flourishing town. The surrounding 
country, being the rich slope of the Alleghany, is highly cultivable, and 
only needs an industrious farming population to clothe it in the lively 
colors of growing crops. Altoona contains the machine-shops and 
engine-houses for the western section of the road, and the hands em- 
ployed in them together with the agents of the road stationed here, 
will be quite sufficient to people a village of more than ordinary pre- 
tensions. The Railroad Company has already erected several hand- 
some buildings, besides the machine shops referred to, (which will 
soon be enlarged to twice their present capacity) and after the piece 
of road overcoming the mountain is finished, a large and splendid 
hotel will be added, with numerous other buildings for private resi- 



HOLLIDAYSBURG. 



Ul 



dences. If lots can bo purchased, we know of no place along the line 
where money could be invested with a safer prospect of future profit. 
Six miles further, following the branch road, we reach the foot of 
"the Alleghany mountain, our steam-horse bringing us directly in front 
of a spacious and showy hotel, very properly called the Mountain 
House. IIoLLiDAYSBURG, the termination of the eastern division of 
the Pennsylvania Canal, lies about one mile south of us. It is a busy 
place, suddenly called into existence and principally supported by the 
trade of the canal, and contains a population of about twenty-five hun- 




THE MOUNTAIN HOUSE. 



dred. It is otherwise without interest, and will probably lose some 
of the trade it now enjoys after this portion of the road is avoided by 
iJie Central Railroad. 

The Mountain House stands on an elevation, above tide-water, of 
about twelve hundred feet. The ascent from this place to the summit 
of the mountain is nearly fourteen hundred feet — consequently, on 
reaching it, we will find ourselves in the region of clouds, upwards 
of twenty-six hundred feet above the Delaware River at Philadelphia ! 



142 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

Our course, therefore, is still onward and upward. Hitched to a little 
old rickety locomotive, of the extravagant days of Governor Ritner, 
— he, of whom it was sung, in Pennsylvania Dutch — ■ 

" Der Joseph Kitner is dcr mon 
As unser Staat rigeren kon !" 

we are tugged, two or three miles, over a steep ascending grade, to 
the foot of the first inclined-plane. Here the cars are attached to an 
endless wire-rope, winding round large iron wheels, placed horizon- 
tally, at each end of the plane. When all is ready, a signal is given 
to the engineer at the head of the plane, who immediately sets the 
stationary steam-engine in motion, and the rope begins its accustomed 
travel. It is prevented from touching or dragging the ground by nu- 
merous little wooden wheels, which revolve rapidly whenever the rope 
falls low enough to touch them. The ascent is soon made, and the 
same process is repeated at each of the other planes. At first the 
novelty of the operation excites some interest, but this gradually 
wears off, and the slow progress in travelling produces a feeling of 
impatience. The scenery is sometimes very inspiring ; but, for the 
most part, the Alleghany has little of striking effect. The ascent, too, 
is so gradual, and the distance to the summit so considerable, that the 
actual height is never fully realized. The summit of the mountain forms 
the boundary line between Cambria and Blair Counties, and the vil- 
lage on its top ought to be the best place in Pennsylvania, because 
it is unquestionably the nearest to heaven. 

Making maple-sugar, in this region of country, is one of the char- 
acteristic employments of the people — though it is carried on to a much 
greater extent in the adjoining county of Somerset. The quantity 
of this sugar, raised in this State in 1850, as appears by the census, 
was two million two hundred and eighteen thousand, six hundred 
and forty-four pounds, from which it will be seen that it is by no 
means an inconsiderable item of our domestic products. Indeed, we 
have no doubt but that this amount, large as it seems, might readily 
be trebled and quadrupled with profit, were the matter reduced to 
the common basis of a regular and systematic business. Immense 
districts, otherwise unproductive, might be timbered with these sugar- 
bearing trees, and large sums annually realized from their produc- 
tions without in the least depreciating the value of the trees for 
timber. If we are not greatly deceived, this sugar-maple business 



M AKIN G M A P L E - S U G A R . 



143 







BOILIXG MAPLE-SUGAR ON THE ALLEGHAXY. 



will ultimately become important>-that is, it will enter the market in 
such quantity as to ofler a determined competition to the products of 
the sugar-cane. 

The sugar-maple is a beautiful tree, reaching the height of seventy 
or eighty feet, the body straight, for a long distance free from limbs, 
and three or four feet in diameter at the base. It grows in older 
climates, between latitude forty-two and forty-eight, and on the Allegha- 
nies to their southern termination, extending westward beyond Lake 
Superior. The wood is nearly equal to hickory for fuel, and is used 
for building, for ships, and various manufactures. When tapped as 
the winter gives place to spring, a tree, in a few weeks, will produce 
five or six pailfuls of sap, which is sweet and pleasant as a drink, and 
when boilded down will make about half as many pounds of sugar 
Ihe manufacturer, selecting a spot central among his trees, erects a 
temporary shelter, suspends his kettles over a smart fire, and at the 
close of a day or two will have fifty or a hundred pounds of su-ar, 
which IS equal to the common West India sugar, and when refined 
equals the finest in flavor and in beauty. •• When the sap has been 
boiled to a syrup and is turning to molasses, then to candy, and then 
graining into sugar, its flavor is delightful, especially when the candy 
IS cooled on the snow.- The person in the engraving is represented 



144 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

as blowing the wax or candy to ascertain how far the boiling has ad 
vanced. Maple-sugar boiling is also a favorite amusement with the 
Yankees down in " Varmeount." A correspondent of the Boston 
Atlas, writing from Burlington, in that State, gives us the following 
particulars, which are equally applicable to this quarter : " At this 
season, the spring, sugar orchards become places of much resort, es- 
pecially for those who love the sweet things of life. In this village 
parties are frequently formed, to take a trip to some sugar orchard 
in an adjacent town, and there regale their palates with maple mo- 
lasses. The maple-sugar manufactories are generally located in 
romantic spots — in some beautiful valley, or on some delightful hill- 
side,, where the air is pure and invigorating, and the landscape views 
enchanting and picturesque. Vermont contains thousands of such 
delightful retreats ; and at this season of the year, when the crystal 
waters of the brooks are released from their frozen bands, and come 
leaping down the mountain sides, waking the beautiful trout from his 
winter's sleep, and filling the valleys and groves with sweet music, it 
is pleasant to visit these sugar orchards, drink sap, lap maple mo- 
lasses, and make love. Make love ! Ah ! thereby hangs a tale. Let 
the Vermont ladies beware ; for in such places they may fall in love, 
while they would not dream of such a thing in their quiet homes. 
The delicious saccharine qualities of maple molasses, presented to the 
swelling lips of a beautiful lass by the hand of a smiling swain, has a 
wonderfully softening effect upon the head, and creates a pleasant 
dreamy sensation through all the nervous system, especially when it 
is powerfully aided by romantic woodland scenes, and the music of a 
thousand cascades. And young gentlemen, too, may need a word of 
caution on such occasions, and under the pressure of such peculiar 
circumstances. An able English writer said, many years ago, when 
human nature was just what it is now, that it was dangerous for a 
Benedict to select a wife in a ball-room, when her disposition was 
sweetened by the music of the violin. But what are the streaming 
notes of the fiddle, in sweetening the female heart, when compared 
with the luxury of maple molasses ? But a word to the wise is sufii- 
cient; we will not follow out the comparison." Indeed, there are no 
more joyous seasons than these festive scenes that serve as occasions 
to bring together the " guide country folks and the lads and lasses," 
while the cool bracing air gives zest to the labor of preparing the 
delicious sweets. 



CROSSING THE CONE MA UGH, 



145 



A few milds from the summit, in descending the western slope of 
the mountain, we avoid the last inclined-plane, as well as the Ion'' 
level of the Portage' road, and again strike that of the Central Rail- 
road. The first object here that meets our attention is a singularlv 




ROCK CUTTING AND CURVATURE OF THE CONEMAUGH. 



wild scene on the Coneraaugh. A steep and narrow ridge of rocks, 
projecting from the western slope of the valley, drives the little stream 
nearly a mile out of its course, where it suddenly wheels round and 
passes along within a few feet of the place of deviation, on the oppo- 
site side of the ridge. The above figure exhibits a view of the scene 
on the eastern side, and the passage of the railroad through the ridge, 
whose position to the river is somewhat like the blade of a sword— 
the massive handle representing the mountain, while the projecting 
blade shows the nature of the rocky ridge around which the stream is 
forced to travel. In re-appearing on the western side of the ridge, the 
river has descended some twenty feet or more, and is crossed by a 
stone viaduct. This is one of the finest specimens of massive architec- 
ture to be found in this country — consisting of a single arch, with a 
span of eighty feet, and nearly seventy-five feet above the water of the 
stream. "While it can scarcely be surpassed in the neatness and sym- 
metrical proportions of the design, it is as durable as the eternal foun- 
Jation upon which it rests. The Conemaugh, passing through the 
13 T 



146 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES, 




TIIK BIG VIADUCT, AND THE SHARP RIDGE ON THE WESTERN SIDE. 

Big Viaduct in a north-eastern course, soon winds round again, and de- 
scends towards the west. A short distance from the viaduct, therefore, 
it again crosses the raih-oad, or rather, the railroad crosses it, with a 
splendid iron and wooden bridge, having an elevation of seventy-three 
feet. The bridge is approached through a cut over one hundred feet 




BRIDGE BELOW THE VIADUCT. 

in depth — the elevation thus penetrated consisting of a drift-shale rock. 
This excavation is the deepest to be found on the road — probably the 
deepest of any other railroad in the country. The scene here, like 
the others just mentioned, is perfectly wild — deeply, gloriously, sub- 
limely wild ! Stones are scattered along the mountain sides in 
dire disorder, among which shoot up tall and stately pine trees, 
with an occasional oak and maple. Below rushes the torrent as 



THE ALLEGHANY COAL REGION. 147 

if mad with the opposing obstacles which have lately impeded its 
course, and as the fruits of its savage impetuosity, large rounded stones 
are scattered along its banks, which have been borne down from the 
stony ridges obtruding in its bed. 

"We are now entering — nay, we are already within, the great Alle- 
ghany bituminous coal region— that vast and extraordinary assem- 
blage of vegetable matter which, in an economical and moral view is 
worth fifty Californias, were each California a lump of massive gold! 
This, with the adjacent fields east and west of the Missouri River, 
contains at least twice the amount of workable coal of all the rest of 
the world combined ; and lying, as they all do, within the valleys 
drained by the Mississippi and its numerous tributaries, their future 
value in dollars and cents is perfectly incalculable — entirely beyond 
the scope of human computation. The whole country, from the Gulf 
of Mexico to the Gulf of the St. Lawrence and Newfoundland, at one 
period of the earth's history — with here and there a probable barren 
spot — comprised one vast coal region, the most extensive remaining 
portion being the field we are now in, extending over a large portion 
of the area drained by the Ohio River and its tributaries. Detached 
portions of this once unbroken coal region are scattered along the Rio 
Grande and Chihuahua Rivers in Mexico, as well as their branches 
rising in the interior of Texas ; other beds are found, separated only 
by a few miles, along the Red and Arkansas Rivers, flowing into the 
Mississippi ; while further north lies the great Missouri coal field, 
separated from that of the great Illinois field only by the Missouri and 
Mississippi Rivers, which pass through both. The south-eastern point 
of this field is pierced by the Ohio River, and it approaches within 
some fifty miles of the great Alleghany field, which, lying in a north 
and south position, runs parallel, with the Atlantic coast, nearly 
seven hundred and fifty miles, at an average distance from it, in a 
straight line, of about two hundred miles. Thus it originally tra- 
versed portions of the State of New York and the New England States, 
where deposits of anthracite are still found ; but the encroachments 
of the sea, in its northern course, have overflowed the beds, and left 
those of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland exposed, literally emerging. 
as they do, from the watery depths encircling them. 

The single State of Pennsylvania has a greater area of coal than all 
Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Spain, France and Belgium. 
united! It is only exceeded by the British provinces of New Bruns- 



148 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



wick, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, which, as before stated, are 
but continuations of our own great region, and which contain a net 
area of some eighteen thousand square miles — that of Pennsylvania 
being not quite sixteen thousand square miles, or one-third of its en- 
tire physical area. The coal strata in the British provinces are not 
as productive as our own — the seams are " faulty," and the coal full 
of earthly impurities. Large as this body of coal appears, some other 
States, (with a larger territory, however,) have a still greater amount ; 
or, rather, a greater amount of coal area — for in regard to quality, 
Pennsylvania, from the inclined dip of her anthracite coal veins, still 
has more coal than those States where the veins lie in a horizontal 
position, no matter what their area of coal land. The following table 
exhibits the quality of coal land of each State where it is found : 



States. 


Area of the States. 


Coal areas. 








SQUARE MILES. 


SQ. MILES. 


1. Alabama, 


60,875 


3,400 


2. Georgia, 


58,200 


160 


3. Tennessee, 


44,720 


4,300 


4. Kentucky, 


39,015 


13,500 


5. Virginia, 


61,000 


21,195 


6. Maryland, 


10,829 


550 


7. Ohio, 


38,850 


11,900 


S. Indiana, 


34,800 


7,700 


9. Illinois, 


59,130 


44,000 


10. Pennsylvania, 


43,960 


15,687 


11. Michigan, 


60,520 


6,000 


12. Missouri, 


60,384 


6,000 


565,283 


133,382 



Reduced to acres, we have, in the twelve States above mentioned 
alone, something like three hundred and sixty-one millions, eight 
hundred and eighty-one thousand one hundred and fifty-one acres of 
coal land ! Of this Pennsylvania has over twenty-eight millions two 
hundred thousand acres, embracing (which the other States do not,) 
anthracite, bituminous, and semi-bituminous coal. The greatest 
length of the Alleghany coal-field is seven hundred and fifty-six 
miles ; its greatest breadth one hundred and seventy-three, and its 
average breadth about eighty-five miles. There are some thirty or 
forty points where coal is regularly mined, the average thickness of 
the veins worked being about ten feet — some of them being twenty- 
two, while those along the Conemaugh and the Portage Railroad, near 



STRUCTURE OF THE ^. LLEOHANIES 



149 



us, are from ten to fifteen feet thick 
At Frostburg there is a vein twenty- 
sis feet in thickness. The annual 
amount of coal shipped to the east- 
ward, by way of the Juniata and 
the nortli branch of the Susque- 
hanna, will not exceed sixty thou- 
sand tons. Of course the greatest 
amount raised is consumed in and 
around Pittsburg, and sent down 
the Ohio River, the actual amount 
of which in tons we can make no 
estimate, there being no record or 
statistics by which it can be ascer- 
tained satisfactorily. The annual 
consumption, at a single estimate, 
(taking in view all the outlets, in- 
cluding that to Lake Erie,) we 
should compute at one million tons 
— most probably more ; certainly 
not less. The anthracite coal re- 
gion we have discussed at sufficient 
length in Off-hand Sketches, Part 
II., another part of this work, to 
which we beg leave to refer our 
readers. Our remarks upon that 
region are illustrated with cuts, 
nearly all of which would be ap- 
plicable to this region, there being 
little difference between the two 
districts except in the process of 
mining, and a material dissimi- 
larity in the structure and position 
of the strata. 

Structure and Origin op the 
Alleghanies. — The witliin geolo- 
gical section (extending from near 
the Atlantic some four hundred 
13* 



B » 



CD 2 o n^ 

c=2 S D 



C 2 ,"i t= O 



\ 



fh. 



-^f 



KC 



2! 



re — ES 

Wi O 53 » 



<^ 



» 



'Atlantic— East. 



150 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

miles westward) exhibits the general order of structure, and relative 
elevation of the wonderful region we are traversing. Starting in the 
east, we first cross a low plain, extending to the letter A, which was 
called the alluvial plain by the first geographers. A portion of this 
plain has been omitted in the engraving, for the want of room. It is 
occupied by tertiary and cretaceous strata nearly horizontal, and in 
general contains no hard and solid rocks, and is usually not more than 
from fifty to one hundred feet high, at any point along the coast, from 
New Jersey to Virginia. In these States this zone is not many 
leagues in breadth, but it acquires a breadth of one hundred and one 
hundred and fifty miles in the southern States, and a height of several 
hundred feet towards its western limits. This is called the Atlantic 
plain. 

The next belt, running from B to C, consists of granite rocks, 
chiefly gneiss and mica-schist, covered occasionally with unconforma- 
ble red sandstone (marked figure 4). It is from twenty-five to thirty 
miles in width, and traversed by the Conewago Hills, or South Moun- 
tain range. This is called the Atlantic slope, because it brings us to 
the first mountain range belonging to the Alleghany series, the Kit- 
tatinny ; and contains itself numerous elevations, cut up. by streams 
and otherwise much worn away, ranging in height from one to three 
hundred feet. On either side of this sandstone district are extensive 
layers of limestone, which we have elsewhere spoken of at length. 

From C to D we have all the mountain elevation constituting the 
great Alleghanies. Leaving the new red sandstone formation, 
(which is distinguished from the older formation by its occupying a 
horizontal position, or rather by its not laying in regular order with 
the older strata) we cross a narrow projecting belt of the primary 
fossiliferous group, constituting what is called the Silurian system of 
rocks. This group of strata, it will be seen, occupies the most ele- 
vated position of the mountain region. The next formation above it 
is that of the old red sandstone, which, it will be seen, forms the bed 
of the coal throughout the whole extent of country, whenever it ap- 
pears, extending westward from D some five hundred miles, with the 
exception of the district previously referred to, separating the Alle- 
ghany from the Illinois coal-field, and where the Silurian Rocks again 
rise to the surface. But from D westward the coal invariably lies in 
a horizontal or flat position, with a few local exceptions, where it has 
been raised to a slight elevation, not exceeding one hundred feet in 
any case. 



THE ALLEGHANY COAL FIELDS. 151 

A few days' observation of the identity of the fossil plants, and the 
relative position of the anthracite, satisfied me that it was of the same 
age as the bitimiinoufi coal which I had seen at Blossberg. This 
opinion was, I believe, first promulgated by Mr. Featherstonehaugh, 
in 1831, at a time when many geologists were disposed to assign a 
higher antiquity to the anthracite than to the bituminous coal meas- 
ures of the United States. The recent surveys have now established 
this foct beyond all question, and hence it becomes a subject of great 
interest to inquire how these two kinds of coal, originating, as they 
did, from precisely the same species of plants, and formed at the same 
period, should have become so very different in their chemical com- 
position. In the first place, I may mention that the anthracite coal 
measures, occurring in the eastern or most disturbed part of the Alle- 
ghany chain, are fragments or outlayers of the great continuous coal- 
field of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio, which occurs about forty 
miles to the westward. This coal-field is remarkable for its area, for 
it is described as extending continuously from north-east to south- 
west for a distance of seven hundred and fifty miles, its greatest 
width being about one hundred and eighty miles — extending from the 
northern border of Pennsylvania as far south as near Huntsville, in 
Alabama. It must have measured originally, before reduced by denu- 
dation, at least nine hundred miles in length, and in some places more 
than two hundred miles in breadth. By reference to the section it 
will be seen that the strata of coal are horizontal to the westward of 
the mountain region, and become more and more inclined and folded 
as we proceed eastward, from D to C. Now it is invariably found 
that the coal is most bituminous towards its western limit, where it 
remains level and unbroken, and that it becomes progressively debi- 
tuminized as we travel south-eastward towards the more bent and 
distorted rocks. Thus, on the Ohio, the proportion of hydrogen, 
oxygen, and other volatile matters, ranges from forty to fifty per cent. 
Eastward of this line, on the Monongahela, it still approaches forty 
per cent., where the strata begin to experience some gentle flexures. 
On entering the Alleghany Mountains, where the distinct anticlinal 
axes begin to show themselves, but before the dislocations arc con- 
siderable, the volatile matter is generally in the proportion of eighteen 
or twenty per cent. At length, when we arrive beyond /, associated 
•with the boldest flexures of the Appalachian chain, where the strata 
have been actually turned over, as near Pottsville, we find the coal to 



152 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

contain only from six to twelve per cent, of bitumen, thus becoming a 
genuine anthracite. — Trans, of Ass. of Anver. Geol., p. 470. 

It appears from the researches of Liebig and other eminent chem- 
ists, that when wood and vegetable matter are buried in the earth, 
exposed to moisture, and partially or entirely excluded from the air, 
they decompose slowly and evolve carbonic acid gas, thus parting with 
a portion of their original oxygen. By this means they become 
gradually converted into lignite or wood-coal, which contains a larger 
proportion of hydrogen than wood does. A continuance of decom-. 
position changes this lignite into common or bituminous coal, chiefly 
by the discharge of carburetted hydrogen, or the gas by which we 
illumine our streets and houses. According to Bischoff, the inflam- 
mable gases which are always escaping from mineral coal, and are so 
often the cause of fatal accidents in mines, always contain carbonic 
acid, carburetted hydrogen, nitrogen, and olifiant gas. The disen- 
gagement of all these gradually transforms ordinary or bituminous 
coal into antliracite, to which the various names of splint coal, glance 
coal, calm, and many others have been given. 

We have thus seen that, in the Alleghany coal-field, there is an 
intimate connection between the extent to which the coal has parted 
with its gaseous contents, and the amount of disturbance which the 
strata have undergone. The coincidence of these phenomena may be 
attributed partly to the greater facility afforded for the escape of vola- 
tile matter, where the fracturing of the rocks had produced an infinite 
number of cracks and crevices, and also to the heat of the gases and 
water penetrating these cracks, when the great movements took place, 
which have rent and folded the mountain strata. It is well known 
that, at the present period, thermal waters and hot vapors burst out 
from the earth during earthquakes, and these would not fail to pro- 
mote the disengagement of volatile matter from the carboniferous 
rocks. 

To the elaborate and faithful surveys of Prof. Rogers, and the late 
R. C. Taylor, we owe the discovery of the clue to the general law of 
structure prevailing throughout this important range of mountains ; 
which, however simple it may appear when once made out and clearly 
explained, might long have been overlooked, amidst so great a mass 
of complicated details. It appears that the bending and fracture of 
the beds is greatest on the south-eastern or Atlantic side of the chain, 
and the strata become less and less disturbed as we go westward, 



THE APPALACHIAN CHAIN. 153 

until at length they regain their original or horizontal position. By 
reference to the section, it will be seen that on the eastern side, or on 
the ridges and troughs nearest the Atlantic, the south-eastern dips pre- 
dominate, in consequence of the beds having been folded back upon 
themselves, as in i, those on the north-western side of the arch having 
been inverted. The nest set of arches (such as k) are more open, 
each having its western side steepest; the next (Z) opens out still 
more widely, and so it continues on until the strata become low and 
level. In nature, or in a true section, the number of bondings or par- 
allel folds is so much greater, that they could not be expressed in a 
diagram without confusion. It is also clear that large quantities of 
rock have been removed by aqueous action or denudation, or will ap- 
pear by the cuts or fissures at I, k, and i, as well as hundreds of other 
places which could not be indicated in the section. 

The movements which imparted so uniform an order of arrange- 
ment to this vast system of rocks, must have been contemporaneous, 
or belonging to one and the same series, depending on some common 
cause. Their geological date is unusually well defined. "We may 
declare them to have taken place after the deposition of the carbon- 
iferous strata (5), and before the formation of the red sandstone, 
figure 4. The greatest disturbing and denuding forces have evidently 
been exerted on the south-eastern side of the chain, and it is here 
that igneous or plutonic rods are observed to have invaded the 
strata, forming dykes, some of which run for miles in lines parallel 
to the main direction of the mountains, or N. N. East and S. S. 
West. 

According to the theory of Professor Rogers, the wave-like flex- 
ures, above alluded to, are explained by supposing the strata, when in 
a plastic state, to have rested on a widely extended surface of fluid 
lava, and elastic vapors and gases. The billowy movement of this 
subterranean sea of melted matter imparted its undulations to the 
elastic overlying crust, which was enabled to retain the new shapes 
thus given to it by the consolidation of the liquid matter injected into 
fissures.* 

For my own part, I cannot imagine any real connection between 
the great parallel undulations of the rocks and the real waves of a 
subjacent ocean of liquid matter, on which the bent and broken crust 

* Trans, of Ass. of Anier. Geology, 1840—2, p. 515. 

u 



154 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

may once have rested. That there vrcve great lakes, or seas of lava, 
retained by volcanic heat for ages in a liquid state, beneath the Alle- 
ghanies, is highly probable, for the simultaneous eruptions of distant 
vents in the Andes leave no doubt of the wide subterranean areas 
permanently occupied by sheets of fluid lava in our own times. It is 
also consistent with what we know of the laws governing volcanic 
action to assume that the force operated in a linear direction, for we 
see trains of volcanic vents breaking out for hundreds of miles along 
a straight line, and we behold long parallel fissures, often filled with 
trap or consolidated lava, holding a straight course for great distances 
through rocks of all ages. The causes of this peculiar mode of de- 
velopment are as yet obscure and unexplained ; but the existence of 
long narrow ranges of tnountains, and of great faults and vertical 
shifts in the strata, prolonged for great distances in certain directions, 
may all be results of the same kind of action. It also accords well 
with established facts, to assume that the solid crust overlying a re- 
gion where the subterranean heat is increasing in intensity, becomes 
gradually upheaved, fractured, and distended — the lower part of the 
newly opened fissures becoming filled with fused matter, which soon 
consolidates and chrystallizes. These uplifting movements may be 
propagated along narrow belts, placed side by side, and may have been 
in progress simultaneously, or in succession, in one narrow zone after 
another. 

When the expansive force has been locally in operation for a long 
period, in a given district, there is a tendency in the subterranean 
heat to diminish — the volcanic energy is spent, and its position is 
transferred to some new region. Subsidence then begins, in conse- 
quence of the cooling and shrinking of subterranean seas of lava and 
gaseous matter ; and the solid strata collapse in obedience to gravity. 
If this contraction takes place along narrow and parallel zones of 
country, the incumbent flexible strata would be forced, in proportion 
as they were let down, to pack themselves into a smaller space, as 
they conformed to the circumference of a smaller arc. The manner 
in which undulations may be gradually produced in pliant strata, by 
subsidence, is illustrated on a small scale by the creeps in coal-mines ; 
there both the overlying and underljang shales and clays sink down 
from the ceiling, or rise up from the floor, and fill the galleries which 
have been left vacant by the abstraction of the fuel. In like manner 
the failure of support arising from subterranean causes may enable 



CONEMAUGH — JOHNSTOWN. 155 

the force of gravity, though originally exerted vertically, to bend and 
squeeze the rocks as if they had been subjected to lateral pressure. 

" Earthquakes have raised to heaven the humble vale, 
And gulfs the mountain's mighty mass entombed, 
And ■where the Atlantic rolls, wide continents have bloomed." 

In applying these lines to the physical revolutions of the territory 
at present under consideration, we must remember that the continent 
which bloomed to the eastward, or where the Atlantic now rolls its 
waves, was anterior to the origin of the carboniferous strata which 
were derived from its ruins ; whereas the elevation and subsidence 
supposed to have given rise to the Appalachian ridges was subsequent 
to the deposition of the coal-measures. But all these great move- 
ments of oscillation were again distinct from the last upheaval which 
brought up the whole region above the level of the sea, laying dry 
the horizontal new red sandstone, (No. 4,) as well as a great part of, 
if not all, the Appalachian chain. 

The largest amount of denudation is found, as might have been ex- 
pected, on the south-eastern side of the chain, where the force of 
expansion and contraction, of elevation and subsidence, has been 
greatest. The first set of denuding operations may have taken place 
when the strata, including the carboniferous, were first raised above 
the sea ; a second, when they sank again ; a third, when the red 
sandstone (No. 4.), after it had been thrown down on the truncated 
edges of the older strata, participated in the waste. The great extent 
of solid materials thus removed, must add, in no small degree, to the 
diflSculty of restoring in imagination the successive changes Avhich 
have occurred, and of recounting in a satisfactory manner for the 
origin of this mountain chain.* 

Hollo ! Here's Conejiaugh Station ! We are down the mountain 
— we are west of the Alleghany, to-be-sure! Ah! we are down to 
twelve hundred and twentj--six feet again above tide-water; two hun- 
dred and seventy-six miles from Philadelphia, and only eighty-seven 
from Pittsburg. Here is a neat brick engine-house and machine- 
shop for the accommodation of the iron nags who tug us over the 
western divisions of the road, and a characteristic water-station to 

* Abridged from Sir Charles Lyell's Travels in America. 



156 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES 




CONEMAUGH STATION. 



refresh them when they are dry. Running along the northwestern 
bank of the Conemaugh, we reach Johnstown, two miles below. At 




JOHNSTOWN. 



this place the western division of the Pennsylvania canal commences, 
and the miserable Portage Railroad, with its short splintery rails and 



EBENSBURO. 157 

curvatures, its stationary stoam-ongines and abominable inclined 
plains, terminates. The traveller, who has crossed the mountain 
over it, will not regret to leave it, but will thank the stars that a bet- 
ter road will soon supersede it. The friendly Conemaugh, as it passes 
this place, shakes hands with the Stony Creek, and the two proceed 
together, in a nearly northern course, around Laurel hill, where they 
strike due west. Johnstown lies on a level flat, surrounded by steep 
hills. It is pleasantly situated, but is without the least interior 
attraction. The buildings are small and without ornament, and the 
population, consisting of about two thousand, embraces a conglomerate 
of character, of which the most part follow the " raging canawl," or 
business appertaining to the trade of which it is the distributor. The 
original settlers of the county were Welsh, Scotch, and Irish, and the 
latter appear to have the " megority" here. 

Ebensburg, a few miles distant, is the seat of justice. It is situated 
on one of the high ridges of the Alleghany, commanding a fine view 
of the surrounding country. The Mountaineer, published in this bor- 
ough in 18-iO, contained the following obituary notice of one of the 
most remarkable men that ever resided in this part of the country. 

" Died, on the 6th instant, at Loretto, the Eev. Demetrius Augustine 
Gallitzin, who for forty-two years exercised pastoral functions in Cam- 
bria County. The venerable deceased was born in 1770, at Munster, 
in Germany. His father. Prince de Gallitzin, ranked among the high- 
est nobility in Russia. His mother was the daughter of Field Mar- 
shal General de Schmeltan, a celebrated officer under Frederick the 
Great. Her brother fell at the battle of Jena. The deceased held a 
high commission in the Russian army from his infancy. Europe in 
the early part of his life was desolated by war — the French revolution 
burst like a volcano upon that convulsed continent ; it offered no faci- 
lities or attractions for travel, and it was determined that the young 
Prince de Gallitzin should visit America. He landed in Baltimore in 
August, 1782, in company with Rev. Mr. Brosius. By a train of cir- 
cumstances, in which the hand of Providence was strikingly visible, 
his mind was directed to the ecclesiastical state, and be renounced 
forever his brilliant prospects. Already endowed with a splendid 
education, he was the more prepared to pursue his ecclesiastical stu- 
dies, under the venerable Bishop Carroll, at Baltimore, with facility 
and success. Having completed his theological course, he spent some 
time on the mission in Marvlaad. 
14 



158 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

" In the year 1789, he directed his course to the Alleghany moun- 
tain, and found that portion of it -which now constitutes Cambria 
County a perfect wilderness, almost without inhabitants or habita- 
tions. After incredible labor and privations, and expending a 
princely fortune, he succeeded in making ' the wilderness blossom as 
the rose.' His untiring zeal has collected about Loretto, his late resi- 
dence, a Catholic population of three or four thousand. lie not only 
extended the church by his missionary toils, but also illustrated and 
defended the truth by several highly useful publications. His ' De- 
fence of Catholic principles' has gained merited celebrity both here and 
in Europe. 

" In this extraordinary man we have not only to admire his renun- 
ciation of the brightest hopes and prospects, and his indefatigable zeal, 
but something greater and rarer — 7ds iconderful huviilUy. No one 
could ever learn from him or his mode of life what he had been, or 
what he exchanged for privation and poverty. 

" To intimate to him that you were aware of his condition, would 
be sure to pain and displease him. He who might have revelled in 
the princely halls of his ancestors was content to spend thirty years 
in a rude log-cabin, almost denying himself the common comforts of 
life, that he might be able to clothe the naked members of Jesus 
Christ, the poor and distressed. Few have left behind them such ex- 
amples of charity and benevolence. On the head of no one have been 
invoked so many blessings from the mouths of widows and orphans. 
It may be literally said of him, ' if his heart had been made of gold 
he would have disposed of it all in charity to the poor.' " 

Cambria County contains, what probably no other county in Penn- 
sylvania will hoast, a deserted village. It is called Beulah, and was 
laid out with the prospect of becoming the seat of justice ; but this 
having subsequently been established at Ebensburg, four or five miles 
distant, the entire village soon became depopulated, and is now in 
ruins. 

Following the course of the canal, after leaving Johnstown, the rail- 
road runs parallel with it for several miles. We pass the unimport- 
ant stations of Magill's Furnace, Nineveh and New Florence, and 
pause a moment for breath at Lockport. The canal here comes 
over to our side of the river, crossing the stream in one of the finest 
stone aqueducts we have yet seen. It does not leak a drop, and the 
little clusters of creeping weeds and water-plants holding on to its 
sides give it quite a romantic and poetic appearance. 



WESTMORELAND COUNTY, 



159 



We are now in the great county of "Westmoreland — great alike in 
its agricultural fertility, its numerous streams, and its extraordinary 
mineral resources. The Conemaugh separates it frota Indiana and 
Armstrong on the north-east, and Laurel Hill from Cambria and Som- 
erset on the cast and north-east — Fayette lying south and Washington 
and Alleghany Counties west of it. Like Huntingdon, it is full of 
small streams, which, for the most part, have their rise in its midst. 
Between Laurel Hill and Chesnut Ridge is the celebrated Ligonier 
Valley, remarkable for the extent of its timber as well as the fertility 
of the soil. This beautiful valley has a north-east and south-west 
course, and consists of a very long but narrow belt of land lying be- 
tween the parallel elevations mentioned. It commences in Virginia, 
traverses the eastern portion of Fayette and Westmoreland, and finally 
spreads out into the adjoining county of Indiana. During the revo- 
lution, and for many years pi'ior to it, this extensive valley was the 
scene of many interesting and stirring events, some of v,-hich we may 




TACK-SADDLE ROCKS IN CHESNUT RIDGE GAP. 



probably allude to hereafter. For the present we must keep an eye 
on the Conemaugh, which is very busy in receiving tlie little streams 



160 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

pouring in upon it, and sending them along, under its auspices, to the 
Kiskiminetas, one of the principal for-warding agents of the Alle- 
ghany. The Kiskiminetas (which means, kiss-me-in-a-minit, if -we 
are not wrong !) is but a continuation of the Conemaugh ; but as this 
stream is united with the former, of course the propriety of the change 

of name is not to be questioned. The Kissme ah, ha ! This is 

what we have been looking out for ! " 'Ere," as Captain Cuttle would 
remark, after making a close " hobserwation," — " 'ere is a scene as is 
a scene !" Chesnut Ridge, as it is the last lofty and prominent ele- 
vation properly belonging to the Appalachian chain, determined to 
end the mountain series with a flourish of trumpets — a coup d'etat. 
The Conemaugh, too — grown amazingly since we first saw him, a 
mere untamed urchin, wandering down the Alleghany — but a power- 
ful hand in scooping out the gap, which is at once high, bold, precipi- 
tous, and rugged. Along this frightful bluff runs the railroad, ele- 
vated nearly a hundmd feet above the glassy river ; and the idea of 
danger — a mere passing shadow — only gives spice to the grandeur 
of the scene. Winding hurriedly around a curvature, we catch a 
glimpse of the overhanging pack-saddle, so called from its resem- 
blance to that time-honored travelling appendage. Travelling three 
or four miles thus, we suddenly leave the Conemaugh, and rein in 
our fiery steed at the branch of the road leading to Blairsville, six 
miles distant. The canal also goes that way, and passes through 
some magnificent scenery on the route. A few miles below Blairs- 
ville, it passes through a tunnel nine hundred feet in length, and 
emerging from it, is carried over the Conemaugh on a stupendous 
stone aqueduct, amidst the wildest scenery imaginable. 

On leaving the Conemaugh, and winding around the gap of Ches- 
nut ridge, the railroad has nothing more to do with the Alleghany 
mountain, and accordingly directs its course due west, very nearly 
through the centre of Westmoreland County. We pass three or four 
unimportant stations, and find ourselves near the Loyalhanna River, 
emptying into the Kiskiminetas, which, in turn, runs into the Alle- 
ghany, then into the Ohio at Pittsburg, and so on. Latrobe is three 
hundred and twenty miles from Philadelphia, two hundred and seven 
from Ilarrlsburg, and forty-three from Pittsburg. Its elevation above 
tide water is one thousand and four feet. This place has sprung up 
within the last year or two, and bids fair for future importance. A 
railroad from it to Uniontown, via Mount Pleasant, and thence 



L ATROBE. 



161 



through Kanawha to the Big Sandy, in Virginia, where it would con- 
nect some other railway routes, is projected. In this age of steam 
and railroading, it is not improbable that this contemplated road may 
ultimately be undertaken. A large portion of the stock, we under- 
stand, is already subscribed for. The line would cross the north- 
western railroad leading to Parkersburg, in some point in Harrison 
County, and the main line of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, lead- 
ing to Wheeling, at some point in the county of Taylor or Marion, in 
Virginia. The people of that section of Virginia, (which is exceed- 
ingly rich in its mineral resources,) would thus be brought within 
several hours ride of Wheeling, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, while 
they are now comparatively shut out from each of these places. 




LATROBE. 



The great interior region of Westmoreland comprises the rich table 
lands of the Alleghany — the country being sufficiently rolling to 
adapt it admirably for all the purposes of agriculture, inchiding that 
of sheep husbandry, which is extensively pursued in the adjoining 
county of Washington, and others adjacent to the Monongahela, in 
this State and Virginia. East of Latrobe, in the adjacent counties 
of Indiana, Jefferson, Armstrong, and Clarion, is one of the finest 
and most extensive lumber regions in the State, to penetrate which it 
is sometimes proposed to extend the Blairsville branch of the railroad, 
at least so far as Indiana, the seat of justice of that county. A por- 
tion of all these counties is drained by the Clarion River, emptying 
into the Alleghany ; a portion of Armstrong and Indiana by the 
14* V 



162 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

Crooked Creek and its forks ; and the remaining portion of both, with 
Westmoreland on the west, by the Conemaugh, the Kiskiminetas, and 
the Loyalhanna, emptying into the former. The country is thus well 
supplied with streams, which are sufficiently large, when swollen in 
the spring by the melting snow, to bear the lumber to the Alleghany, 
where it is formed into rafts, and floated down the Ohio River. All 
the towns and cities on this noble river, (including Pittsburg, Cincin- 
nati, and Louisville,) have been built almost entirely from the de- 
scending lumber of this great region ; while the Monongahela has 
furnished the oaks and heavier and finer-fibred timber for purposes 
of steamboat, ship and bridge building, as well as cabinet-ware. 

The lumbermen are essentially original characters. A more devil- 
may-care set of fellows never handled an axe or swung an oar ; good- 
natured, robust, and hard-working, they have an inexhaustible fund 
of humor and forest-adventure, which does much to smooth down 
their exterior roughness. In the fall of the year they repair to the 
depths of the forest, and commence the preliminaries of the winter 
campaign. 

Wide around their woodland quarters 

Sad-voiced autumn grieves ,• 
Thickly down the swelling waters 

Float his fallen leaves ; 
Through the tall and naked timber, 

Column-like and old. 
Gleam the sunsets of November 

With their skies of gold. 

As soon as the timber district to be cleared is fixed upon, the wood- 
men commence operations, and one after the other fall the stately 
inhabitants of the forest — ^leaving behind, as monuments of their past 
glory, their bright stumps gleaming through the dismembered branches. 
The ox-teams are busy tugging off the saw-logs, and the saw-mill hard 
by tears savagely through their woody fibres. 

Be it starlight — be it moonlight* 

In these vales below, 
When the earliest beams of sunlight 

Streaks the mountain's snow, 

* John G. Whittier. 



THE LUMBER REGION. 165 

Crisps the hoar frost keen and early 

To our hurrying feet, 
And tho forest echoes clearly 

All our blows repeat. 
» « * * * » 

Make we here our camp of winter, 

And through sleet and snow, 
Pitch-knot and bcechcn splinter. 

On our hearth shall glow ; 
Here, with mirth to lighten duty. 

We shall lack alone, 
Woman, with her smile of beauty. 

And her gentle tone. 
But her hearth is brighter burning 

For our work to-day, 
And her welcome at returning 

Shall our loss repay. 
Strike, then, comrades ! Trade is waiting 

On our rugged toil. 
For ships are waiting for the freighting 

Of our woodland spoil ! 
Cheerily on the axe of labor 

Let the sunbeam dance, 
Better than the flash of sabre, 

Or the gleam of lance ! 
Strike ! With every blow is giren 

Freer sun and sky, 
And the long-hid earth to heaven 

Looks with wondering eye. 
Loud behind us grow tho murmurs 

Of the age to come ! 
Clang of smiths and tread of farmers 

Bearing harvest-home ! 
Here her virgin lap with treasures 

Shall the green earth fill — 
Waving wheat and golden maize-ears 
Crown each beechen hill ! 

In the spring, when the snows melt, the sawed lumber is drifted 
down the mountain streams to the Alleghany, where long rafts are 
formed, and then piloted down the river. Each raft contains from 
four to eight hands, who lodge in a little board cabin erected in the 
centre of it. Here they live in merry social glee, consuming the 



166 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

night in song and revelry, interspersed with anecdotes and tales of 
their forest life — of " hair breadth 'scapes" from wolves and bears — 
of feats of strength and agility — of travels and fortune — of places, 
men, and women ! 

When the white frost gilds the valleys, the cold congeals the flood ; 

When many men have naught to do to earn their families bread; 

When the swollen streams are frozen and the hills are clad in snow, 

Oh ! we'll range the wild woods o'er, and a-lumbering we'll go ! 
And a-lumbering we'll go, so a-lumbering we'll go — 
Oh, we'll range the wUd woods over, and a-lumbering we'll go ! 

When you pass through the proud city, and pity all you meet. 
To hear their teeth a-chattering as they hurry through the street— 
In the frost-proof flannel we're encased from top down to the toe, 
While we range the wild woods o'er, as a-lumbering we go. 
And a-lumbering we'll go, so a-lumbering we'll go. 
Oh, we'll range the wild wood o'er, while a-lumbering we go ! 

You may boast of your gay parties, your pleasures, and your plays, 
And pity us poor lumbermen while dashing in your sleighs j 
We want no better pastime than to chase the buck and doe. 
As we range the wild woods over, and a-lumbering we go ! 
And a-lumbering will go, so a-lumbering we'll go. 
Oh ! we'll range the wild woods over while a-lumbering we go I 

The music of our burnished axe shall make the woods resound. 

And many a lofty ancient pine will tumble to the ground; 

At night, round our good camp-fire, we'll sing while rude winds blow ; 

Oh ! we'll range the wild woods over while a-lumbering we go ! 
So a-lumbering we'll go, and a-lumbering we'll go. 
Oh ! we'll range the wild woods over, and a lumbering we'll go ! 

When winter's snows are melted, and the ice-bound streams are free, 
We'll run our rafts to market, then haste our friends to see ; 
How kindly true hearts welcome us — our wives and children too — 
We will spend with these the summer, and again a-lumbering go ! 
And a-lumbering we'll go, and a-lumbering we'll go — 
We'll spend with these the summer, and again a-lumbering go ! 

When our forest days are ended, and we cease from winter toils. 
And each through the summer warm will till the virgin soil — 
Enough to eat, and drink^ and wear — content through life to go — • 
Then we'll sing our adventures o'er, and no more a-lumbering go ! 
And no more a-lumbering go, no more a-lumbering go — 
Oh ! we'll tell our adventures o'er, but no more a-lumbering go ! 



THE SUSQUEHANNA LUMBER TRADE. 167 

Pennsylvania has long been one of the most productive lumber 
States in the Union, and while it is true that her splendid forests are 
annually disappearing or growing smaller, yet she can never become 
entirely destitute of this necessary article. The extensive uso of coal, 
if nothing else, will materially contribute to avert this evil. As the 
pines disappear, they are succeeded by oaks, equally valuable and 
necessary ; while, again, the oaks arc generally succeeded by pines. 
There would seem to be a law of succession in our forests, as well as 
in our grains — one crop of vegetable matter, drawing from the earth 
certain of its constituent elements, prepares it for another growth, 
which draws some other particular substance from it, and in turn 
deposits that which was previously extracted. This natural law, 
backed with the obvious interest of man, will always secure us large 
regions of timber, in those localities where the situation and quality 
of the soil are unfivorable to profitable culture. 

The Lumber Trade of the Susquehanna. — The principal lumber 
points of the Susquehanna River are Ilarrisburg, Middletown, Marietta, 
Columbia and Wrightsville, in Pennsylvania, and Port Deposit, in 
Maryland. About two million feet of the manufactured article, on 
an average, pass down the Susquehanna to these points every year, 
besides a large quantity which comes via the canals. Of this quantity 
it is estimated that about seventy million feet will arrive at Baltimore 
during the current year. It is not easy to get at the exact amount of 
business done in this rapidly increasing article of trade, in conse- 
quence of the imperfect data required by law to be kept, but it is 
generally conceded that the receipts of the year, ending on the 20th 
of April last, reached very nearly two hundred and fifty million feet, 
which is but little more than one-half the total number of feet which 
arrived at Albany, New York, (one of the greatest lumber markets 
in the United States,) during the year 1851, which amounted to not 
less than four hundred and sixty million feet, a large portion of which, 
however, came from Canada, whilst all that is brought down the Sus- 
quehanna is from Southern New York and Pennsylvania. 

At Ilarrisburg the lumber is purchased to supply that city and 
the adjacent country, embracing the Cumberland Valley. A large 
portion is also purchased at the other points mentioned. The towns 
of Columbia and Wrightsville, opposite, are depots for purchasing and 
piling lumber, to season for the Baltimore and Philadelphia markets, 
as well as for the supply of all the manufacturing towns along the 



168 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

lines of railroads thence to both cities ; whilst Port Deposit, being at 
the head of tide-water, affords facilities for shipping to all the markets 
southward, as well as those on the Delaware; and many buyers and 
manufacturers meeting here, a large quantity of lumber consequently 
changes hands at this point. The following is an approximation to 
the quantity sold in each market which we have enumerated : — Har- 
risburg, five million feet ; JMiddletown, twenty-five million feet ; Mari- 
etta, ten million feet ; Columbia, fifty million feet ; Wrightsville, ten 
million feet ; Port Deposit, fifty million feet — total, one hundred and 
fifty million feet. Besides which, fifty million feet are shipped from 
Columbia and Port Deposit for Baltimore and Philadelphia. All 
this amount is exclusive of an average of twelve hundred rafts of 
square timber, the greater part of which goes to Philadelphia and 
New York. 

We have thus briefly stated the comparative importance of the prin- 
cipal lumber points on the Susquehanna, from whose business some 
millions of dollars change hands yearly. But it is limited in extent, 
compared to what it promises to be in a very few years. Ten years 
ago the lumber trade of Baltimore was hardly worthy of mention, 
whilst at this period something like one million of dollars worth is 
sold in this market, and the trade is only in its infancy. Improve- 
ments are continually going forward in the timber regions for getting 
that article to the mills to be manufactured, and vast tracts of country, 
now abounding in a wild primeval growth of timber, must, ere long, 
yield to the stroke of the woodman's axe and the magic influence of 
the lightning saw, to be sent down the " big stream," to the markets 
of consumption, and planted again in smiling towns and villages, not 
in the rude fashion of native wildness, but in the improved shape of 
thousands of human tenements. 

This quarter of the State is scarcely less remarkable for its coal, 
iron, and lumber, than for its excellent salt springs. The saline 
properties of the water, underlying the upper stratum of the soil, 
were noticed at an early period ; but no efforts were made to extract 
the salt until 1813, at which time, owing to the war, it became ex- 
ceedingly scarce and correspondingly high in price. The water, in 
many places along the Kiskiminetas and the Alleghany, oozed out of 
the ground, and those spots were much frequented by deer, who would 
stand around them licking up the water with great satisfaction. This 
fact finally led to experiments, which have since resulted in extensive 



GREENSBURG 



169 



mining operations. The water is pumped up, in immense quantities, 
generally by means of small steam-engines. The water thus raised 
is boiled until it attains a consistency approaching chrystallization ; 
after which it is transferred to cisterns, in which the sediment is 
deposited, and thence, purified, it is put into large kettles, in which 
it soon becomes chrystallized without further trouble. The process 
of chrystallization is both interesting and curious. Spear after spear, 
of the most delicate structure and fantastic shape, bounces into exist- 
ence as the water is absorbed, and soon the whole kettle appears 
white with the salt. Thirty gallons of water are usually evaporated 
for every bushel of salt. In all these works, coal, of course, consti- 
tutes the sole fuel. The pumps, we should add, are sunk to various 
depths, from three to eight hundred feet. 




GREENSBURG. 



Greexsburg, laid out in 1783, was named in honor of Gen. Greene, 
of the Revolutionary War. It is the seat of justice of "Westmoreland 
County, and contains a population of about twelve hundred, having 
recently somewhat increased. The town lies on an eminence over- 
looking the surrounding country. The late Judge Coulter, one of the 
Judges of the Supremo Court of Pennsylvania, resided here. He was 
15 W 



170 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

one of the soundest lawyers and purest men in the State. This place 
is three hundred and twenty-four miles from Philadelphia, two hun- 
dred and seventeen from Harrisburg, and twenty-four from Pittsburg. 
It is ten hundred and ninety-one feet above tide-water. The railroad 
at this place, not quite finished as yet, will be in operation a few 
months ensuing. A railroad is also being constructed from Greens- 
burg to Wheeling, which will probably intercept a large amount of 
the trade of the Ohio, during the season of low water above that 
point, as well as a portion of the travel now enjoyed by the Baltimore 
and Ohio Railroad. With these splendid improvements, concen- 
trating at Greensburg, it will probably assume an active business 
aspect in striking contrast to its past career. 

The remains of Gen. Arthur Saint Clair are buried in the Presby- 
terian church-yard of this place, over which a handsome pyramidal 
monument has been erected by his brethren of the Masonic fraternity. 
Gen. St. Clair, in addition to his connection with the Revolutionary 
struggle, bore a conspicuous part in the political movements of this 
State, having been a member of Congress, a member of the Conven- 
tion to form the Constitution of the State, a candidate for Governor, 
&c., &c. His military career, on several occasions, exposed him to 
censure ; but he was a true patriot, and withal a useful and valuable 
man. The latter portion of his life was embittered with pecuniary 
misfortunes, and he lived for some time in comparative seclusion 
amongst the hills of tlae Chesnut Ridge. 

Twenty-one miles from Greensburg, and ten from Pittsburg, we 
pass the scene of Gen. Braddock's battle with the French and Indians, 
which took place in 1755. The entire region of country watered by 
the Ohio and its tributaries had long been claimed by the French, 
upon the strength of the original discoveries of La Salle. They ac- 
cordingly built forts at various points along the Ohio, the Alleghany 
and Monongahela, and established themselves in the friendship of 
the Indians then living along those rivers. In the meantime, the 
authorities of Virginia and Pennsylvania conceiving that the country 
rightfully belonged to the British Crown, and constituted a portion 
of their respective colonies, took measures to oppose the further occu- 
pancy of the French. In the prosecution of this work, the fort at 
Pittsburg was commenced in 1754, under the authority of the Gover- 
nor of Virginia ; but, before its completion, the French captured it, 
and held it under the name of Fort Du Quesne, until 1758, when it 



PORT PITT 



171 




BATTLE OP BRADDOCK's FIELD. 

was abandoned to Gen. Forbes. Soon after it was enlarged and im- 
proved by Gen. Stanwix, and named Fort Pitt, in honor of the distin- 
guished British statesman, and from which Pittsburg subsequently 
took its name. It thus remained in possession of the English until 
the commencement of the Revolutionary war, when it was seized and 
ever after held by the Americans— including, also, the whole sur- 
rounding country— the claim of Virginia in the meantime having 
been amicably arranged. 

It was in view of the incursions of the French, that General Wash- 
ington, in 1753, then a mere youth, was dispatched by the Governor 
of Virginia on an expedition to the head waters of the Ohio, to ascer- 
tain and report the state of the country. This was one of the most 
perilous journeys that could have been undertaken— his path laid 
through immense wildernesses, covered with the snows of a severe 
winter, and beset, at every turn, with hostile Indians. One of the 
most memorable incidents of this journey, (which exhibits the re- 
markable boldness and indefatigable energy of him wlio afterwards 
became the embodiment of our revolutionary struggle.) was the pas- 
sage of the Alleghany River, about two miles above the present city 
of Pittsburg. The man who could thus push his way across a wild, 



172 



LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 




WASHINGTON CROSSING THE ALLEGHANT. 



icy stream, was well qualified, sul^sequently, to cross the Delaware 
with the American army under his dii'ecting eye. 

" I took my papers," said General Washington, in describing this 
perilous enteq^rise, " pulled off my clothes, and tied myself up in a 
watch-coat. Then, with gun in hand, and pack on my hack, in which 
were my papers and provisions, I set out with Mr. Gist, fitted in the 
same manner, on Wednesday the 26th of December. The day follow- 
ing, just after we had passed a place called Murdering Town, (where 
we intended to quit the path and steer across the country for Shan- 
nopin's Town,) we fell in with a party of French Indians, who had 
lain in wait for us. One of them fired at Mr. Gist or me, not fifteen 
steps off, but fortunately missed. We took this fellow into custody, 
and kept him until about nine o'clock at night, then let him go, and 
walked all the remaining part of the night without making any stop, 
that we might get the start so far as to be out of the reach of their 
pursuit the next day, since we were well assured they would follow 
our track as soon as it was light. The next day we continued travel- 
ling until quite dark, and got to the river about two miles above 



BRADDOCKS DEFEAT. 173 

Shannopin's. We expected to have found the river frozen, but it was 
not, only about fift}^ yards from each shore. The ice, I suppose, had 
broken up above, for it was driving in vast quantities. 

There was no way for getting over but on a raft, which we set 
about with but one poor hatchet, and finished just after sun-setting. 
This was a whole day's work ; we next got it launched, then went on 
board of it, and set off; but before we were half way over, we were 
jammed in the ice in such a manner that we expected every mo- 
ment our raft to sink, and ourselves to perish. I put out my set- 
ting-pole to try to stop the raft, that the ice might pass by, when the 
rapidity of the stream threw it with so much violence against the pole, 
that it jerked me out into ten feet water ; but I fortunately saved my- 
self by catching hold of one of the raft-logs. Notwithstanding all our 
efforts, we could not get to either shore, but were obliged, as we were 
near an island, to quit our raft and make to it. (Now called Wash- 
ington's Island.) 

"The cold was so extremely severe, that Mr. Gist had all his fingers 
and some of his toes frozen ; and the water was shut up so hard, that 
wc found no difficulty in getting off the island on the ice in the morn- 
ing, and went to Mr. Frazier's." 

A short time after his return to Virginia, the expedition of General 
Braddock was undertaken. He had arrived in this country in 1755, 
with the 44th and 45th regiments of royal troops, which were subse- 
quently joined by others, with numerous wagons and horses, obtained 
through the exertions of Dr. Franklin, in the eastern portion of Penn- 
sylvania. The army moved on the 9th of June, but its progress 
through the wilderness was much retarded by the wagon trains, which 
were finally left behind at the suggestion of Washington, acting as 
aid-de-camp to the commanding General. The General with thirteen 
hundred men moved forward, leaving Col. Dunbar to follow with the 
baggage and the remaining troops. The army crossed to the left bank 
of the Monongahela, below the mouth of the Youghiogany, being pre- 
vented by the rugged hills from continuing along the right bank to 
the fort at Pittsburg, the object of attack. At noon, however, they 
recrossed to the right bank of the river, near Turtle Creek, some eight 
miles from Pittsburg. Here occurred the battle. The sloping hills 
were covered with a dense forest to the water's edge, and their sides 
were worn with deep ravines and gulleys, rendering the spot a fa- 
vorite one for the Indian. Captain Orme, an aid of Braddock, says: 
15* 



174 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

" As soon as the whole had got on the fort side of the Monongahela, 
we heard a very heavy and quick fire in our front. We immediately 
advanced in order to sustain them, but the detachment of the five hun- 
dred men gave way, and fell back upon us, which caused such con- 
fusion and struck so great a panic among our men, that afterwards 
no military expedient could be made use of that had any effect upon 
them. The men were so extremely deaf to the exhortation of the 
ofBcers, that they fired away in the most irregular manner all their 
ammunition, and then ran ofi", leaving to the enemy the artillery, 
ammunition, provisions and baggage ; nor could they be persuaded 
to stop till they got as far as Gist's plantation, while many of them 
proceeded as far as Col. Dunbar's party, some six miles distant. The 
officers were absolutely sacrificed by their unparalleled good behaviour 
— advancing sometimes in bodies and sometimes separately — hoping, 
by such example, to engage the soldiers to follow them ; but to no 
purpose. The whole number of killed and wounded amounted to 
between six and seven hundred, among which were many officers, in- 
cluding Gen. Braddock himself, with two of his aids. Gen. Morris, 
speaking of this action, says : — " The defeat of our troops appears to 
be owing to the want of care and caution in the leaders, who have 
been too secure, and held in great contempt the Indian manner of 
fighting. Even by Captain Orme's account they were not aware of 
the attack. And there are others that say that the French and In- 
dians lined the way on each side, and in the front and behind ravines, 
that we knew nothing of till they fired upon us." Gen. Washington, 
■ / nine days after the battle, wrote to his mother, as follows : " When 

we came there we were attacked by a party of French and Indians, 
whose number did not probably exceed five hundred men, while 
ours consisted of about thirteen hundred well-armed troops, chiefly 
regular soldiers who were struck with such a panic that they be- 
haved with more cowardice than it is possible to conceive. The 
officers behaved gallantly in order to encourage their men, for which 
they sufi'ered greatly, there being near sixty killed and wounded — a 
large proportion of the number we had. The Virginia troops showed 
a good deal of bravery, and were nearly aU killed ; for I believe out 
of three companies that were there, scarcely thirty men are left alive. 
" Capt. Peyrouny and all his officers, down to a corporal, were killed. 
Capt. Poison had nearly as hard a fate, for only one of his was left. 
In short, the dastardly behavior of those they call regulars exposed 



PITTSBURG. 175 

all others that were inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death ; 
and at last, in despite of all the efforts of the officers to the contrary, 
they ran, as sheep pursued by dogs, and it was impossible to rally 
them. 

" The General was wounded, of which he died three days after. Sir 
Peter Halkctt was killed in the field, where died many other brave 
officers. I luckily escaped without a wound, though I had four bullets 
through my coat, and two horses shot under me. Capts. Orrae and 
Morris, two of the aids-de-camp, were wounded early in the engage- 1 
ment, which rendered the duty hard upon me, as I was the only per- 
son then left to distribute the General's orders ; which I was scarcely 
able to do, as I was not half recovered from a violent illness, that had 
confined me to my bed and a wagon for above ten days. I am still 
in a weak and feeble condition, which induces me to halt here two or 
three days, in the hope of recovering a little strength to enable me to 
proceed homeward." sy^ 

And to his brother John he writes at the same time : " As I have 
heard, since my arrival at this place, a circumstantial account of my 
death and dying speech, I take this early opportunity of contradicting 
the first, and of assuring you that I have not yet composed the latter. 
But, by the all-powerful dispensations of Providence, I have been ' 

protected beyond all human probability or expectation ; for I had 
four bullets through my coat,* and two horses shot under me, yet 
escaped unhurt, although death was levelling my companions on 
every side of me I" 

Arrived at our journey's end, we have little more to say. Pitts- 
burg lies in a triangular position, between the Alleghany and the 
Monongahela — the first flowing in from a north-east, and the other 
from a south-east direction. Passing on each side of the city, they 
unite their waters at its western point, and thus form, and thus 

* When 'Washington went to the Ohio, in 1770, to explore wild lands near 
the mouth of the Kenawha river, he met an aged Indian chief, who told him, 
through an interpreter, that during the hattle of Braddock's field he had singled 
him out as a conspicuous object, fired his rifle at him many times, and directed 
his young warriors to do the same ; but none of his balls took efi'ect. He was 
then persuaded that the young hero was under the special guardianship of the 
Great Spirit, and ceased firing at him. He had now come a long way to pay 
homage to the man who was the particular favorite of heaven, and who could 
never die in battle. 



176 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

stretches forth the broad and beautiful Ohio. In this respect Pitts- 
burg is situated somewhat similarly to New York, and it will not be 
many years before it will bear comparison with that great commercial 
smporium in many other respects. The present population is about 
fifty thousand, including the manufacturing villages adjacent, and 
Alleghany city opposite, which properly constitutes a portion of the 
main city. The land upon which it stands was originally owned by 
the Penn family, under whose auspices the town was surveyed and 
laid oflf in lots, in 1765, at which time it contained but a few log 
houses, hurriedly thrown up by the Indian traders and other adven- 
turers. Its progress since has been rapid and extraordinary ; and its 
future prospects are brighter than ever. 

As a manufacturing and distributing point, Pittsburg must ulti- 
mately become, if it is not now, the most important interior city in 
this country. The transportation of nearly every article of manufac- 
ture intended for western consumption, from the Atlantic sea-board 
to the western waters is, and always must be, an item of serious ex- 
pense, which the consumer naturally desires to avoid. This is par- 
ticularly the case in reference to heavy Iwdies, as ii-on, wood, glass, 
earthen and other wares, and it is in the production of these articles 
that Pittsburg is most extensively engaged. With inexhaustible beds 
of coal and iron, with abundance of salt, minerals, lumber, wool, and 
an endless variety of agricultural facilities — standing at the head of 
the longest continuous river in the world, with uninterrupted naviga- 
tion throughout, as well as to points radiating from it, comprising 
thousands of miles of uninterrupted water navigation, penetrating 
every point of the great, grand, and glorious West — to say nothing of 
the canal and railway system forming a net-work of more interior in- 
tercourse — Pittsburg is, and ever must be, the principal theatre of the 
productive greatness of this vast continent ! Nature has so ordained 
it — she has fixed her stamp of greatness upon it, and her right to en- 
joy it there is none to dispute. 

The annexed view of Pittsburg is afforded from the hill above 
Sligo, nearly opposite its western point. The editor of the Wheel- 
ing Times, (which has always been a rival city,) in speaking of 
the visit of a Board of Inquiry appointed to select a site for the 
United States Marine Hospital, some years ago, used the following 
eloquent language : 

" This Board found Pittsburg a much larger place than Wheeling ; 



1-3 
H 

GO 

w 

Q 




PITTSBURG. 179 

they found it a thriving place, with numerous engines, furnaces, and 
machinery ; they found it with a rich and industrious population — a 
people that would work, and would therefore prosper^-at the same 
time they found them an hospitable, gentlemanly class of beings, 
possessed of intelligence and willing to impart it. They doubtless 
took an early excursion upon the hills that environ the city. They 
looked down, and a sea of smoke lay like the clouds upon Chimbo- 
razo's base. No breath of air moved its surface ; but a sound rose 
from its depths like the roar of Niagara's waters, or the warring of 
the spirits in the cavern of storms. They looked around them, and 
saw no signs of life or human habitation. They looked above 
them, and the summer sun, like a haughty warrior, was driving his 
coursers up the eastern sky. Then from the sea of smoke a vapor 
rose — another and another cloud rode away, and a speck of silvery 
sheen glittered in the sunbeams. 

" Again, a spire came into view, pointing heavenward its long slim 
finger ; then a roof— a house-top — a street ; and lo ! a city lay like a 
map spread out by magic hand, and ten thousand busy mortals were 
seen in the pursuit of wealth, of fame, of love, of fashion. On the 
left, a noble river came heaving onward from the wilderness of the 
north, bearing on its bosom the treasures of the forest. On the right, 
an unassuming but no less useful current quietly yielded to the ves- 
sel's prow that bore from a more genial soil the products of the earth. 
They looked again, and extending downward through fertile and cul- 
tivated vales, checkered with gently swelling hills, they saw the giant 
trunk formed by the union of these noble branches. Ruffling its mir- 
rored surface, they saw the noble steamer leaping like the panting 
courser, bearing a rich burden from the far sunny south ; another, 
gathering strength and rolling onward to commence its long journey 
past fertile fields, high hills, rich and flourishing cities, and forests 
wide and drear, bearing the hand-work of her artisans to Missis- 
sippi, Texas, Mexico, the groves of India, and the hills of Pernam- 
buco — nay, to every land to which the sun in its daily course gives 
light. Such they saw Pittsburg ; and as such, as a citizen of the 
"West, we are proud of her." 

And as such, a citizen of Pennsylvania, we are proud of her. But, 
alas ! for the smoke ! There is too much of that here — our anthraeital 
experience never could be overcome sufficiently to allow our bitumini- 
zation. You cannot walk the streets with a clean face or a white 



180 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

collar — pshaw ! Pittsburg is full of soot and smoke, emitted from a 
thousand tremendous coal fires, and the whole aspect of the place is 
as black as a negro's skin. This makes a residence in it unpleasant — 
kills taste for dress — prevents the ladies from promenading — destroys 
their complexions, and plants cabbages where only roses should grow. 
The sulphurous air, however, prevents eruptions of the skin, and 
people suffering with these disagreeable diseases should forthwith 
eschew medicine, and take up a residence for a short time in Pitts- 
burg. It will cure 'em. 

Many of the extensive manufactories spoken of as being situated at 
Pittsburg, are not within the limits of the city proper, but are scat- 
tered around within a circle of five miles radius from the courthouse- 
Within this compass are the cities of Pittsburg and Alleghany, the 
latter already a large place of some twenty thousand inhabitants, con- 
taining many extensive manufactories, particularly of cotton, iron, and 
white-lead, and doing a large proportion of the lumber business of the 
district, the boroughs of Birmingham and Lawrenceville, and the 
towns and villages of Manchester, Stewartstown, Sharpsburg, East 
Liberty, Wilkinsburg, Croghansville, Minersville, Arthursville, Rice- 
ville, Oakland, Kensington, Sligo, Cuddysville, Temperance Village, 
Tarentum, Millersville, and New Troy. The manufacturing estab- 
lishments located in these surrounding villages, have their ware- 
houses, owners, or agents, within the city, and so far as general busi- 
ness interests are concerned, may be considered a part of the city 
itself, that being the centre where the greater part of the business is 
transacted. 

Judge Breckenridge, in giving some of his recollections of Pitts- 
burg in its infancy, says : 

"At the time to which I allude, the plain was entirely unincum- 
bered by buildings or enclosures, excepting the Dutch church, which 
stood aloof from the haunts of men, unless at those times when it was 
forced to become the centre of the hippodrome. And the races, shall 
we say nothing of that obsolete recreation? It was then an affair of 
all-engrossing interest, and every business or pursuit was neglected 
during their continuance. The whole town was daily poured forth to 
witness the Olympian games, many of all ages and sexes as spectators, 
and many more, directly or indirectly, interested in a hundred differ- 
ent ways. The plain within the course, and near it, was filled with 
booths as at a fa*r — where everything was said, and done, and sold, 



PITTSBURG IN OLD TIMES. 181 

and eaten or drunk — where every fifteen or twenty minutes there was 
a rush to some part, to witness a Jisiiciiff'—v,'^hcTe dogs barked and 
bit, and horses trod on men's toes, and booths fell down on people's 
heads ! There was Crowder with his fiddle and his votaries, making 
the dust fly with a four-handed, or rather four-footed reel ; and a little 
further on was Dennis Loughy, the blind poet, like Homer casting his 
pearls before swine, chanting his master-piece in a tone part nasal and 

part guttural : 

" Come, gentlemen, gentlemen all, 
Genral Sincleer shall rem'ber'd be, 
For he lost thirteen hundred men all 
In the AVestern Tari-to-ree." 

" All at once the cry, to horse ! to horse ! suspended every other 
business or amusement as eifectually as the summons of the faithful. 
There was a rush towards the starting post, while many betook them- 
selves to the station best fitted for the enjoyment of the animating 
sight. On a scafi'old, elevated above the heads of the people, were 

placed the patres pairite, as judges of the race, and but I am not 

about to describe the races : my object was merely to call to mind the 
spot where they were formerly executed ; yet my pen on this occasion 
was near running away with me, like the dull cart-horse on the course, 
who feels a new fire kindled under his ribs, and from seeing others 
scamper, is seized with a desire of trying his heels also. The Dutch 
church, after some time spent in searching was found by me ; but as 
for the race field, it is now covered with three-story brick buildings, 
canal basins, and great warehouses — instead of temporary booths, 
erected with forks, and covered with boughs just cut from the woods. 

" It will be the business of the annalist, or of the historian, to trace 
the gradual progress of increase, or the various changes which the city 
has undergone. Who would imagine, on beholding the concourse of 
country merchants from all quarters, laying in their supplies of mer- 
chandise for the purpose of retail, that but a few years ago, the busi- 
ness was done in small shops, part cash and part country produce, 
that is, for skins, tallow, beeswax, and maple sugar? Who would 
imagine that the arrival and encampment of Cornplanter Indians on 
the banks of the Alleghany would make a great stir among the mer- 
chants ? It was quite a cheering sight, and one which made brisk 
times, to see the squaws coming in with their packs on their backs, 
and to whom the business of selling as high, and buying as cheap as 
16 



182 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

possible was entrusted. Now an Indian is not to be seen, unless it be 
some one caught in the woods a thousand miles off, and sent to Wash- 
ington in a cage to make a treaty for the sale of lands. 

" I can still remember when the mountains were crossed by pack- 
horses only, and they might be seen in long files, arriving and depart- 
ing with their burdens swung on pack-saddles. Wagons and wagon- 
roads were used in the slow progress of things, and then the wonder of 
the West, a turnpike, was made over the big hills ; and now canals 
and railways bring us as near to Philadelphia and Baltimore, as the 
Susquehanna was in those times. The western insurrection is not so 
much a matter of wonder, and there is no trifling excuse for the dis- 
satisfaction of the West, when we reflect on their situation at that pe- 
riod. The two essentials of civilized and half-civilized life, iron and 
salt, were almost the only articles they could procure. And how 
could they procure them ? There was no sale for their grain down 
the Ohio and Mississippi, on account of the Indian war, and the pos- 
session of New Orleans by the Spaniards. There was no possibility 
of transporting their produce across the mountains, for sale or barter. 
There was but one article by means of which they could contrive to 
obtain their supplies, and that was whiskey ! A few kegs were placed 
on each side of a horse, transported several hundred miles, and a 
little salt and iron brought back in their place. Is it any wonder that 
the excise, in addition to the expense of transportation, almost cut 
thera off even from this miserable resource 1" 

From 1790 to 1800, says the editor of Harris' Directory, the busi- 
ness of Pittsburg and the West was small, but gradually improving ; 
the fur trade of the West was very important, and Messrs. Peter 
Maynard and William Morrison were engaged largely in it, and from 
1790 to 1796 received considerable supplies of goods, through Mr. 
Guy Bryan, a wealthy merchant in Philadelphia, and the goods were 
taken to Kaskaskia in a barge, which annually returned to Pittsburg, 
laden with bear, buffalo, and deer skins, and furs and peltries of all 
kinds, which were sent to Mr. Bryan, and the barge returned laden 
with goods. At that period there was no regular drayman in Pitts- 
burg, and the goods were generally hauled from the boats with a three 
horse wagon — until in 1797 a Mr. James Rattle, an Englishman, 
settled in this city, and was encouraged to take up the business, and 
drayed and stored goods, until a box of drygoods was stolen from his 
yard and shed, for then we had no warehouse, or regular commis- 



TRADE OF PITTSBURG. 183 

• 

sion merchant in Pittsburg — and this broke the poor man up, and 
he died broken-hearted and unhappy. 

A French gentleman, Louis Anastasius Tarascon, emigrated in 
1794 from France, and established himself in Philadelphia as a mer- 
chant. He was a large importer of silks, and all kinds of French and 
German goods. Being very wealthy and enterprising, in 1799 he sent 
two of his clerks. Claries Brugiere and James Berthoud, to examine 
the course of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, from Pittsburg to New 
Orleans, and ascertain the practicability of sending ships and clearing 
them from this port, ready rigged, to the West Indies and Europe. 
Those two gentlemen returned to Philadelphia, reported favorably, 
and Mr; Tarascon associated them and his brother, John Anthony, 
with himself, under the firm of " John A. Tarascon, brothers, James 
Berthoud, & Co.," and immediately established a large wholesale 
and retail store and warehouse, a shipyard, a rigging and sail loft, 
an anchor smith shop, a block manufactory, and in short everything 
necessary to complete vessels for sea. The first year, 1801, they built 
the schooner Amity, of one hundred and twenty tons, and the ship 
Pittsburg, of two hundred and fifty tons — and sent the former, loaded 
with flour, to St. Thomas, and the other, also with flour, to Philadel- 
phia — from whence they sent them to Bordeaux, and brought back a 
cargo of wine, brandy, and other French goods, part of which they 
sent here in wagons at a carriage of from six to eight cents per pound. 
In 1802 they built the brig Nanino, of two hundred and fifty tons ; 
in 1803 the ship Louisiana, of three hundred tons ; and in 1804, the 
ship "Western Trader, of four hundred tons. 

A curious incident connected with this subject was mentioned by 
]\Ir. Clay on the floor of Congress. " To illustrate the commercial 
habits and enterprise of the American people, (he said) he would re- 
late an anecdote of a vessel built and cleared out at Pittsburg for 
Leghorn. When she arrived at her place of destination, the master 
presented his papers to the custom-house officer — who could not credit 
him, and said to him, ' Sir, your papers are forged ; there is no such 
port as Pittsburg in the world : your vessel must bo confiscated.' 
The trembling Captain laid before the officer the map of the United 
States, directed him to the Gulf of Mexico, pointed out the mouth of 
the Mississippi, led him a thousand miles up it to the mouth of the Ohio, 
and thence another thousand up it to Pittsburg : ' There, sir, is the 
port from whence my vessel cleared out.' The astonished officer. 



184 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

before he had seeu the map, would as readily have believed this vessel 
had been navigated from the moon." 

In or about the year 1796, three of the royal princes of Orleans 
came to Pittsburg, and stopped at a hotel situated on the bank of the 
Monongahela, where Jno. D. Davis's warehouse now stands. They 
were very affixble and conversant, and remained for some time in the 
city : at length they procured a large skiff, part of which was covered 
with tow linen, laid in a supply of provisions, and (having procured 
two men to row the skiff) proceeded on to New Orleans. One of 
these princes was Louis Phillippe, the late king of France — who, in 
his exile, visited our city, and spent his time very agreeably with Gen. 
Neville, Gen. James O'Hara, and several other respectable families 
who then lived on the bank of the Monongahela river. Louis Phillippe 
and his companions had previously descended the Susquehanna, to 
Harrisburg, where they embarked up the Juniata, and over the moun- 
tains to Pittsburg. 

We remember well during the Embargo times and last war, when 
the internal trade and commerce of Pittsburg, by the Ohio, Western, 
and Southern rivers, brought us comparatively nigh to Wheeling, 
Cincinnati, Louisville, Nashville, St. Louis, Natchez, and New Or- 
leans ; but the slow process of keel-boats and barges was such that it 
consumed almost a whole summer for a trip down and ujd — when all 
was done by the hardy boatmen, with the pole or by warping ; and 
when a barge arrived, with furs from St. Louis, cotton from Natchez, 
hemp, tobacco, and saltpetre from Maysville, or sugar and cotton 
from New Orleans and Natchez, it was a wonder to the many, and 
drew vast crowds to see and rejoice over it. And then the internal 
commerce during the war allied us closely with Richmond, Baltimore, 
Philadelphia, and New York — these cities getting much of their sugar, 
saltpetre, &c., by boats and wagons, through Pittsburg — which then 
did an immense carrying trade for the United States. 

The first steamboat on the western waters was built in Pittsburg, 
in 1811, and was called the New Orleans. There were but sis or 
seven built previously to 1817. From that period the number has 
rapidly been increasing, as well as improving in character, model, 
and workmanship. As late as 1816, the practicability of navigating 
the Ohio with steamboats was esteemed doubtful — none but the most 
sanguine regarded it favorably. In 1817, however, Capt. Shreve, an 
enterprising man, made a trip from New Orleans to Louisville in 



WESTERN COMMERCE. 185 

twenty-five days. The event was celebrated by rejoicing, and by a 
public dinner to the daring individual who had achieved the miracle. 
Previous to that period, the ordinary passages by barges, propelled 
by oars and sails, was three months. A revolution in western com- 
merce was at once efifected. Every article of merchandise began to 
ascend the Mississippi, until we have seen a package delivered at the 
wharf at Cincinnati, from Philadelphia, via New Orleans, at one cent 
per pound. From the period of Capt. Shreve's celebrated voyage till 
1827, the time necessary for the trip has been gradually diminishing. 
During that year the Tecumseh entered the port of Louisville from 
New Orleans in eight days and two hours from port to port ! * * 
We cannot better illustrate the magnitude of the change in every- 
thing connected with western commerce and navigation, than by con- 
trasting the foregoing statement with the situation of things at the 
time of the adoption of steam transportation, say in 1817. About 
twenty barges, averaging one hundred tons each, comprised the whole 
of the commercial facilities for transporting merchandise from New 
Orleans to the " upper country." Each of these performed one trip 
down and up again to Louisville and Cincinnati, within the year. 
The number of keel-boats employed on the upper Ohio cannot be as- 
certained, but it is presumed that one hundred and fifty is a sufficiently 
large calculation to embrace the whole number. These averaged 
thirty tons each, and employed one month to make the voyage from 
Louisville to Pittsburg ; while the more noble and dignified barge of 
the Mississippi made her trip in the space of one hundred days, if no 
extraordinary accident happened to check her progress. Not a dollar 
was expended for wood in a space of two thousand miles, and the 
squatter on the banks of the Ohio thought himself lucky if the reck- 
less boatman would give the smallest trifle for the eggs and chickens 
which formed almost the only saleable articles on a soil whose only 
fiiult was its too great fertility. Such was the case only a few years 
ago — what is it now ? What is it not ? Of the 16,674 miles of steam- 
boat navigation of the Mississippi and its branches, there was em- 
ployed in 1851 an estimated aggregate steamboat capacity of 300,000 
tons ; 4,500 boats not propelled by steam, of 75 tons average each ; 
making 337,500 tons; which, with the numerous descending flat-boats, 
making two or three trips per year, with an estimated tonnage of 
700,000, gives the extraordinary total of 1,337,500 tons ! The value 
of the merchandize thus annually transported, exceeds §100,000,000 ! 
10* Y 



186 LOCOMOTIVE -SKETCHES. 

And this is but a commencement — a mere foretaste of what is to be 
done in the future ; for we have just shown that only a few years 
since the first steamboat was built, and the trade of the rivers was 
then comparatively insignificant. 

If Pittsburg enjoyed a clear pure atmosphere — that is, if the disa- 
greeable consequences flowing from the use of its coal could be con- 
veniently obviated, it would attract to a greater extent than it now 
does men of fortune and enterprise within its bounds. As it is, it 
will still increase and prosper; but we doubt if it will ever prove an 
interesting place for those who have it, to enjoy their wealth in its 
midst. Various attempts have been made to kill the effect of the 
smoke and soot, but they have thus far proved inefiectual. We repeat, 
this is an insufferable evil, which a stranger, accustomed to a clear 
atmosphere, cannot overcome. 

Let us, in conclusion, accompany our kind reader to the river, 
where the tall and stately floating palaces are arranged along 
the shore. Here are generally lying to, from twenty to forty large 
and elegant steamboats, and the greatest rivalry exists amongst 
them for the conveyance of passengers, which even seizes the negro 
cooks and waiters, and firemen. Here is a specimen of their ad- 
vertisements, set off in rhyme in good Ethiopian spirit: 

"Come all ob you passengers 
What want to ride fast, 
Come on de Corneelyah, 

You will nebbe be passed ; 
De Corneelyah is a good boat, 

She knows how to move. 
But what will she do 
When her engines get smootbe ? 
Chorus — 0, go it Corneelyah, 

She is de boat, I reckon. 

" She is a fast boat, 

She never comes in late : 
Leaves Pittsburg at five. 

And Cairo at eight; 
But when she is comin', 
De ladies dey will say, 
'Behold it is Corneelyah, 
She has come before day. 
0, go it Corneelyah, 
She is de boat, I reckon. 



PITTSBURG. 187 

" Come all ob you passengers, 
Dat want to know your fare, 
Jus' walk up to de office, 

You'll find our clerk dare : 
Our clerk ho is a good man, 

One ob do bcry best, 
He treats all ob de passengers 
To de honest good jest. 
0, go it Corneelyab, 
She is de boat, I reckon." 

Turning around the projecting angle of the city, we see the glories 
of the broad Alleghany on both sides, strewn with arks, rafts, 
and flat>boats — some loaded with lumber, some with coal, and 
others with iron and miscellaneous freights. These boatmen are 
merry fellows, and have their own sport going down the river: 

Heigh-ho ! boatmen row, 

A-floating down de riber de Ohio ! 
De boatman dance — de boatmen sing — 
De boatmen 're up to eb'ry ting^- 
Dance, boatmen dance — dance boatmen dance ! 
, We'll dance all night till broad daylight. 
And go home wid the gals in the morning ! 

Heigh-ho, boatmen row ! 

A-floating down de riber de Ohio ! 



188 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 



PHILADELPHIA AND THE LAKE TRADE. 



The Sunbury and Erie Railroad Company, which was projected 
to open out the uorthern counties of the State, and develope their rich 
mineral and agricultural resources, as well as to pour into the lap of 
Philadelphia the vast trade of the great lakes, was first chartered in 
1837. The charter authorizes the company to construct a Railroad 
from Sunbury to Erie, 2863^ miles. They propose, however, first to 
build that portion of the road between Williamsport and Erie, a dis- 
tance of 240 miles ; there will then be, in connection with the " Catta- 
wissa and Williamsport," " Little Schuylkill," and Reading railroads, 
a continuous chain of railroads from Philadelphia to Erie, without 
transhipment, the entire route of 425 miles lying within the State. 
The highest grade will be 52 8-10 feet to the mile, and that for only 
eight miles. The cost of the road, graded and bridged for a double 
track, with a single track laid, and with sixty miles of siding, com- 
pleted ready for the locomotive, it is estimated will not exceed six 
millions, and that it can be completed in two years. 

The advantages possessed by this road are very great ; the harbor 
of Erie, its terminus, is by far the best and safest on the lake, having 
an average depth of about 20 feet, an extent of sis square miles, and 
is free from obstruction by ice considerably earlier in the spring and 
later in the fall. It is the point at which the competition between the 
Atlantic cities must take place for the passenger and freight trade of 
all the railroads running westward from it, by reason of the law of 
our Legislature, compelling the break of guage between the Eastern 
and Western railroads to occur there. At Erie, also, it will connect 
with some 3000 miles of railroad penetrating in every direction through 
the Western and North-western States. The country traversed by 
the road is rich in every source of intrinsic wealth ; vast quantities of 
timber of the best kind for building or shipping purposes, as well as 
an inexhaustible supply of anthracite and bituminous coals and iron 
ore, together with the produce of a rich farming district, will seek a 
market over this road. 

The great bituminous coal basin is situated in Clinton County, and 
is extensively worked. It furnishes the State with coal for locomotive 



PHILADELPIHA AND THE LAKE TRADE. 189 

use on the Columbia Railroad. The coal is free from sulphur, will 
make gas, and is good for blacksmiths' use. 

It is only -within a few years past that these northern counties ol 
the State, such as Clearfield, Potter, Forest, McKean, Tioga, Lycom- 
ing, Warren, Elk, Jefierson, Clinton, Erie, &c., have excited the at- 
tention of settlers in any numbers. But they are rapidly filling up 
with settlers of the best class, such as Danes, Swedes, Norwegians, 
and New Englanders. Large companies from Vermont have settled 
there, and are writing every day for their friends. Ole Bull has pur- 
chased large tracts of land, and established a Norwegian colony in 
Potter County, which is thriving and flourishing rapidly. lie ha.« 
called his town Oleona ; it was christened with much ceremony on the 
8th of September, 1852. Here, if his town grows and is as prosper- 
ous as he can but wish it to be, is a glorious opportunity to render 
his name as lastingly famous as it now is from his violin celebrity. 
Many of the foresightod capitalists of Philadelphia make summer 
trips to this region and are so well pleased with it that they make 
large purchases. The best route is to Williamsport via the Pennsyl- 
vania Central Boad to the Junction, about fifteen miles above Harris- 
burg, thence by packet up the Susquehanna : or, by the Beading 
Bailroad to Pottsville, thence by stage via Danville to Williamsport. 
Jno. F. Cowan, Esq., of Williamsport, a gentleman who owns large 
tracts of land, we feel confident, would give any information that 
might be desired. This gentleman, by judicious purchases, and by 
re-selling his land to actual settlers, on easy terms, has amassed a large 
fortune within comparatively a short period. 

The construction of the proposed road must inevitably induce a 
very extensive improvement in each of those branches of industry, 
and develope an incalculable amount of wealth now comparatively 
unproductive for w'ant of such an outlet — while in time these improve- 
ments will add largely and rapidly to the business and profits of the 
road and the revenues of the State. 

The great Western Lake Country, with which the proposed road will 
unite Pliiladelphia, contained in 1810 a population of only 272,000. 
The five States which have been formed out of the Northwest Terri- 
tory, bordering on the lakes, now number a population of four mil- 
lions and a half — being fifty per cent, more than the entire population 
of the United States at the time of the Declaration of Independence. 
The territory embraced between the Ohio Biver and the Lakes, 



190 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

from the western boundary of Pennsylvania to the Upper Mississippi, 
containing about 180,000,000 acres of arable land, measures 280,000 
square miles, being nearly twice as large as France, and about ^lx 
times as large as the whole of England. 

The trade of the lakes, with which Philadelphia will have a direct 
connection, in the aggregate of foreign and domestic imports and ex- 
ports at the several ports, largely exceeds $200,000,000 per annum. 

For passengers who arrive at Erie it will be the shortest route to a 
good market, as will be seen by the following : 

From Erie to New York via Dunkirk, 505 miles. 

From Erie to New York via Buffalo, 568 miles. 

From Erie to Philadelphia, 425 miles. 

In connection with this road, and the products of the counties which 
it will open, we should perhaps allude more particularly to the lum- 
ber trade of Northern Pennsylvania. 

When enumerating the sources of Philadelphia's prosperity, we 
speak of her manufactories, her commerce, her iron trade, and her vast 
and still increasing coal trade. Has it ever occurred to Philadelphi- 
ans that the lumber trade of Northern Pennsylvania, which they neai'ly 
monopolize, is infinitely greater and more important than they have 
the least conception of? Not having the necessary data before us, 
we cannot make use of the exact figures ; but, still, we have not the 
slightest hesitation in asserting that between three and six millions 
of dollars worth of lumber are now yearly manufactured in Northern 
Pennsylvania, and that for some years to come this amount will be 
increased in place of being diminished. The annual yield of anthra- 
cite coal in all parts of the State, is about four millions of tons, which 
is worth about six millions of dollars at the mines ; and yet many 
Philadelphians are inclined to believe that the principal source of the 
prosperity of the city is in the enjoyment of this trade. 

At a very considerable outlay of money, a Boom has been con- 
structed in the Susquehanna some three or four miles above "Williams- 
port, for the purpose of catching and retaining saw logs during the 
floating season. This is the mechanical object of the Boom. The 
commercial or speculative object is to bring distant lumber regions 
into market, and to bring the logs to the saw mill, instead of the saw 
mill to the logs. In other words, a man owning timber lands, say at 
the head waters of Pine Creek, or Cedar Creek, or Kettle Creek, in- 



PHILADELPHIA AND THE LAKE TRADE. 191 

Btead of erecting a saw mill some sixty or eighty miles from the head 
of canal navigation, erects it in the neighborhood of AVilliamspovt, 
within sight of the canal. During the winter, he gets -out his log?, 
and as soon as the spring freshet takes place, boldly launches th-iii 
into the rushing stream. Under the guidance of the hardy, red shirt 
" drivers," they are hurried down the creeks until they reach tlie 
" big river," and down the " big river" they are *' driven" until they 
come within the clutches of the Boom. 

Under the expectation that the Boom would accomplish all that its 
projectors promised for it, a number of large and very expensive 
steam saw mills have been erected in the immediate vicinity of Wil- 
liainsport ; and more mills, equally as large and equally as expensive, 
will be built. It may bo inferred from this that great confidence was 
reposed in the successful operations of the Boom ; and that unless 
that confidence was well grounded, immense pecuniary losses would 
be the consequence. The strength and capacity of the Boom was 
tested to its fullest extent this spring ; and the experiment was made 
for the purpose of ascertaining whether lumber could be manufactured 
at a profit in the immediate neighborhood of Williamsport, and 
timber lands of distant regions could be made equally as available as 
the timber lands of what was once regarded more favorable locations. 
The experiment was fixr more successful than the most sanguine had 
the temerity to hope for. In the place of catching fifteen or twenty 
thousand logs, the Williamsport Boom Company caught and retained, 
in ton days, from fifty to eighty thousand logs — and demonstrated to 
the entire satiafoction of the community, that if the West Branch 
was dotted with saw mills from the mouth of the Lycoming Creek to 
the mouth of Loyalsock Creek, there would be no difficulty in procur- 
ing a sufficient amount of stock. 

The company will be able to catch and retain upwards of two hun- 
dred thousand logs, or about four hundred thousand logs during the 
spring and fall freshets. Saw logs, when manufactured into boards, 
will average three hundred feet per log ; consequently, the manufac- 
tui-ed product of four hundred thousand logs would be one hundred 
and twenty million feet of boards, which at $16 per thousand, in the 
Philadelphia market, (a low figure) would bring $1,920,000. There 
is now in the vicinity ten large steam saw mills, with capacity suffi- 
cient to manufocture 40,000,000 feet of lumber per annum. If our 
figures are correct — and the Boom Company will make them correct, 



192 LOCOMOTIVE SKETCHES. 

.SO far as the catching, retaining, and delivering the logs are con- 
cerned — it will require thirty large -water or steam saw mills, in the 
neighborhood of Williamsport, to manufacture all the logs which can 
ber, and which eventually will be delivered by the Williamsport Boom 
Company. The manufacture of lumber, directly on the West Branch 
River, is now in its infancy. It must rapidly increase from month to 
month, and from year to year, adding millions to the wealth and 
thousands to the population of the Susquehanna region. The start 
which Williamsport, Jersey Shore, Lock Haven, and Montoursville 
have taken is solely to be attributed to this trade. Williamsport, from 
her location, and from her large investment of capital, is and must 
continue to be, the soul and centre of the West Branch lumber region. 
Now that she has undertaken to manufacture lumber on a scale never 
before attempted by any one town in the United States, it may safely 
be assumed that her population will be doubled within the next ten 
years. 



THE END 



THE EPHRATA MOOTTAIN SPRINGS. 

The Ephrata Mountain Springs opens for visiters on the Is-t of June. This watering 
place is situated on the Ephrata Ridge, Lancaster Co., I'enna., 13 miles N. E. of Lancaster, 
IS miles S. W. of Heading, and 40 miles E. of Harrisburg. 

The buildings being located on the most elevated spot in the county, renders the atmos- 
phere as light and as pure in the night as during the day. Here the south mountain is 
the dividing ridge, the waters on the .south side run into the Chesapeake, and on the north 
to the Delawijre. 

Persons desirous of exercising in the shade will find here graded walks through a dense 
forest to the different Springs and mountain dousche, (where the water falls twenty-five 
feet,) and to the Observatory, from which is presented the richest, most extensive, and the 
greatest variety of landscape scenery to be met with any where. The city of Lancaster, 
and numerous other towns and villages, are in full view. Points in five other counties, 
and in the State of Maryland, are visible to the naked eye ; some at a distance of forty 
miles. 

The water is pure, soft sand stone and slate, consequently is very superior for drinking 
and bathing; as a recommendation of its quality to restore to health and vigor diseased 
and frail constitutions, we would refer only to those who have availed themselves of its 
use, without any further comment. The temperature of the different Springs is, some very 
cold, others more moderate. 

Since last season extensive additions have been made ; there are now comfortable accom- 
modations for three hundred and fifty ptrsons. Additional Baths, cold and warm, a supe- 
rior Ten-pin alley and a Billiard Saloon, and Stables, have been erected. 

Tliree daily Coaches (except Sunday) leave Lancaster on the arrival of the trains of 
cars from the east, south, and west. A daily Coach (except Sunday) will leave the Bird-in- 
Iland (after the 1st of July,) on the arrival of the train leaving Philadelphia at eight 
o'clock, A. M. Families preferring to come by this Irain, will please telegraph to Lanca-S- 
tcr the day previous, as the Coach can carry only nine passengers. 

Any number of Passengers can be accommodated via Lancaster, as there is every facility 
from that point to carry them to the Springs. A daily Stage leaves Reading at nine o'clock, 
-V. M., on the arrival of the Pottsville train ; persons coming from Philadelphia will please 
telegraph to J. N. Miltimore, Reading, when the coach will be detained until the arrival 
of the Philadelphia cars — and arrive the same morning at the Springs. There is also a 
tri-weekly stage from Harrisburg via the Springs to Downingtown. 

Telegraph despatches and packages sent by Adams' Express via Lancaster, will be de- 
livered daily, and a daily mail during the season. 

A stock of good livery horses for saddle and harness will be kept at tile Springs. There 
are a great variety of pleasant drives over good roads, in the vicinity. 

Experienced Assistants and good servants, an excellent Band of Music, a good Barber, 
and careful Hostlers are employed, so that every attention is paid to the comfort of visiters. 
The best refreshments — and every effort will be made to procure the delicacies of the 
Baltimore and Philadelphia Markets, in addition to a good Market at the place, will war- 
rant us in promising a good table. 

Visiters desirous of availing themselves of Hydropathic treatment, will find every con- 
venience, and a competent phj-sician to attend them, if required. 

For further information, address • 

JOSEFK KOrriGIVEACHER, 

Ephrata Post-Office, Lancaster county. Pa. 



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MANUFACTURERS OF 

WEOUGIIT IRON WELDED TUEES 

FOR GAS, STEAM, WATER, &c. 

STEAM BOILER FLUES, LAP WELDED, OR BUTT TTELDED 

WITH SAFE ENDS, FOR MARINE, LOCOMOTIVE, 

AND OTHER BOILERS, CUT TO DEFINITE 

LENGTH AS REQUIRED. 

SCREW-CUTTING MACHINES, 

STOCKS AND DIES, STEAM VALVES, GAS PIPE TONGS, &C. 

DWELLINGS, HOTELS, FACTORIES, ALSO HOSPITALS, 

PRISONS, OR OTHER PUBLIC BUILDINGS, 

WARMED AND VENTILATED 

By the application of Steam or Hot Water on the most approved 

Principles. 

WAREHOUSE, SOUTH THIRD STREET, 

First Door below Walnut Street, 
PHILADELPHIA. 



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MANUFACTURES EVERY DESCRIPTION OF 

Uroii JliiUing0 nnii Snnniialis, 

SPIRAL AND STRAIGHT STAIRS, 

ONANIMPROVEDPLAN. 

ALSO, 

Iron Settees, Chairs, Hat and Umbrella Stands, Centre and 

Pier Tables, Music Stands and Racks, Spittoons, 

Balcony, Mantle and Pier Brackets. 

GREYHOUNDS, NEWFOUNDLAND DOGS, LIONS, &c. 
FOUNTAINS AND URNS FOR GARDENS. 

AND A YARIETY OF 

rnamcntal Jron toork, 

ADAPTED TO PRIVATE AND PUBLIC BUILDINGS. 

Drawings of Articles above specified, will be sent to 
persons desiring to make a selection. 



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